Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is attracting interest from across Europe, with Bayern Munich the latest club to be linked with his services ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s summer exit
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has emerged as a serious contender for the Bayern Munich job – and been backed by a German legend.
Emery, 52, returned to the Premier League in October 2022 and has transformed Villa from relegation battlers to Champions League hopefuls, while also reaching the Conference League semi-finals. The Spaniard’s magnificent tenure, which has followed a resurgent spell with Villarreal after being sacked by Arsenal in November 2019, has piqued the interest of Europe’s elite, including Bayern.
The Bavarian giants, who last week surrendered the German title for the first time in 12 years as unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga, are searching for their next manager to replace Thomas Tuchel. Despite guiding Bayern into this year’s Champions League semi-finals, where they’ll face Real Madrid, it’s already been confirmed that the ex-Chelsea boss will leave the Allianz Arena at the end of the season.
Bayern have recently seen former manager Julian Nagelsmann snub the chance to return to Munich, signing a new two-year contract with the German national team, while Zinedine Zidane reportedly isn’t interested either. German newspaper Bild now claim that Emery is the hottest candidate to succeed Tuchel, with newly-appointed sporting Max Eberl a big fan.
Bayern and Germany legend Lothar Matthaus is among those who’d be pleased to see the ex-PSG boss get the job, telling Sky Germany: “I would get Unai Emery from Aston Villa. He’s doing a great job there. He has a lot of experience – including internationally – and he has titles to his name with Sevilla, for example.
“He speaks perfect English. He can then learn German, but the players can all speak English anyway, so I don’t see any language barrier. Emery would also be someone who would bring in a new wind, he would be a new face in the Bundesliga and That would fit well with Bayern Munich.”
Language could well come into play, with Eberl saying in the wake of Saturday’s 5-1 win away to Union Berlin: “I can say that our search for new manager is at the final stages. The coach should speak English, not necessarily German.”
Emery isn’t the only Premier League manager in contention, though, as Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has also come into Eberl’s thinking. Bayern have four Bundesliga games left, dwarfed by their Champions League semi-final clashes with Real and a potential final at Wembley.
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