Unai Emery has elected to turn down the Newcastle United job at this point but wanted to ‘leave a door open’ for the future with his handling of the situation.
That’s according to AS, who say the Villarreal coach has tried to play his hand to ensure he is not completely ruled out in future.
He has been heavily linked with the Newcastle job over the last week and was practically appointed according to the UK press.
This cause confusion in Spain, where Emery and his club made said they had not spoken to Newcastle and were unaware of any imminent move.
AS believe it was Emery’s desire to be frank, and sincere when asked about the situation that led to speculative reporting that he was on his way.
He’s been the ‘first candidate’ for Newcastle, but the two parties ‘had not entered into negotiations’ about a deal, and it was very much the information leaking from St James’ Park that led to all the speculation over this week.
In reality, Newcastle’s new owners were ‘quicker in their thinking and leaks than in their actions’ and took it for granted that Emery, their ‘chosen one’, would say yes to their proposal.
The whole affair has undoubtedly ‘reduced the strength’ of his relationship with the Spanish club, even though it was ‘remote’ according to his entourage, and that is why Emery has tried to be civil in his rejection of Newcastle.
He is prioritising his current club but doesn’t want to remove himself entirely from the chance of a job in future, so has worked to ‘leave a door open’ for himself.
