Unai Emery, the manager of Aston Villa, has committed to the club by extending his contract until 2027.
When Emery assumed the managerial role in November 2022, Villa was in 16th place in the Premier League, facing the threat of relegation. However, under his leadership, the team underwent a remarkable transformation, finishing seventh and securing qualification for the Europa Conference League, marking the club’s return to European football after a decade-long absence.
Currently, Villa occupies fourth place in the Premier League, with aspirations for Champions League qualification. They maintain a six-point lead over Tottenham, although Tottenham has played two fewer matches.
Emery expressed his alignment with the club’s ownership vision and highlighted the conducive structure in place for Villa’s development, emphasizing the shared commitment of his coaching staff.
“We must maintain the hard-working spirit, clever decisions and co-ordination with the ownership that we have found during this time,” he added.
“We will work to get better and better. And we will demand from each other. Ambition already is, and must always be, the motto of this project.”
Villa have triggered an option to extend Emery’s deal in this instance and will sit down with the manager in the summer to discuss a long-term contract, BBC Sport understands.
If Emery succeeds in clinching the Europa Conference League trophy and secures Champions League qualification, his position at Villa could become considerably more robust.
Given the current circumstances, Villa should be well-equipped to fend off any potential overtures from clubs like Bayern Munich and others across Europe, ensuring that their manager remains in Birmingham.
Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris said: “We are thrilled and are building a sporting operation around Unai to support him with a view of returning Aston Villa, a co-founder of the English Football League as we prepare to celebrate our 150th anniversary, to its historic levels of greatness.”
Renowned for his expertise in European competition, Emery has steered Villa into a semi-final in the Conference League, where they will face Greek side Olympiakos with the hope of reaching a first European final since 1982.
Emery achieved remarkable success by winning the Europa League in three consecutive seasons with Sevilla, followed by another triumph in 2021 with Villarreal.
His 18-month tenure at Arsenal, however, was widely regarded as unsuccessful, with the Gunners finishing fifth in the Premier League and losing to Chelsea in the 2019 Europa League final.
Since taking charge at Villa, Emery has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround in the club’s fortunes, amassing 115 points in the Premier League. Only Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool have accumulated more points during this period.
Emery boasts the best points-per-game record of any Villa manager in the Premier League era, averaging 1.95 points per game. He has secured 35 wins in 59 matches, translating to a win rate of 59%.
In their final four league matches of the season, Villa will face Chelsea, Brighton, Liverpool, and Crystal Palace as they strive to secure a spot in Europe’s top competition for the first time since the 1982-83 season.