Aston Villa have hit the ground running in 2023-24 after finishing seventh in the Premier League last term, and they are currently fifth in the league table after ten rounds of games this term.
Villa manager Unai Emery has turned the fortunes of the club around on the pitch since he took over from Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher reckons it could be bad news for the fans and the owners.
The Sky Sports pundit believes the bigwigs in England and across Europe could come calling and present the Spaniard with an offer too tempting to turn down.
“Aston Villa should cherish Unai Emery while they can,” Carragher wrote in the Telegraph.
“It is a matter of time before an established Champions League club makes him an offer he can’t refuse.
“Sorry to put a dampener on Villa fans’ upbeat mood after a brilliant start to this season, but this is the reality of the sport. Owners and sporting directors can see the quality and impact of Emery’s work at Villa Park and he will be on their wanted lists.”
Carragher is spot on as most of the big clubs apart from Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain will have such a manager on their radar after what he has done at Villa Park.
However, Emery has the potential to turn the Villans into a top-four club in England if he remains with them in the long term.
Owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens will continue to invest in the squad and the club’s facilities, but they need to pull out all the stops to hold on to the former Villarreal manager.
Emery has improved many of the players and recruited some excellent additions to the squad, and while challenging for the Champions League spots this term will be tricky, Villa have what it takes to break into the top-four and permanently compete for major silverware going forward.
While doing so will only increase interests in their manager from the big boys, the onus is on the board to keep making him happy going forward.
