I must admit I was extremely surprised when I heard that the new Moneybags team Newcastle United, were keen on bring the ex-Arsenal manager Unai Emery to St James Park.
I argued that he was not known as a coach to save teams from relegation, but now I think about it, if he had trouble with speaking English at Arsenal, how would he get on up in GeordieLand?
But we now know that the rumours were true, as Emery himself has admitted that they have declared an interest. Emery said in The Standard: “There has been an interest from Newcastle, that is all.
“But I have not had more news than that interest. There is no offer. The offer would have to be via the club. I am focused on Villarreal. No more than that.”
And it is telling that Emery said any offer would have to go through his club as he is still under contract, as the Villarreal president Fernando Roig doesn’t seem to be keen on letting Emery leave anyway: “I am sure that his mind is not drifting elsewhere.” he stated.
“I know Unai has a contract with us and contracts are there to be fulfilled. We hope that we will be able to see that contract through until the end.”
Of course it could simply mean that the Spanish club are going to play hardball to try and get a big compensation package for letting him go, but I think it is much more likely that Emery would not be keen to move from the Meditteranean coast to the North of England in the middle of winter.
Not to mention that his team still have a very good chance of making the Champions League knockout stages as well…