Aston Villa appoint Unai Emery as manager after Gerrard exit

Aston Villa announced Unai Emery as their new manager on 24 November 2022. The Spaniard replaced Steven Gerrard, the former Liverpool and Rangers figure, who had left the Birmingham club earlier that month after a poor run of results in the Premier League.

Emery arrived with a strong reputation in European football. He had won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal, whom he had also led to the competition's 2021 title. He had previously managed Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, and had left Villarreal to take the Villa job.

Villa were close to the relegation zone when he took over, so the main task was stability. His appointment was seen as a significant move for a club hoping to rebuild its ambitions, and it began a period of steady improvement that later brought the team back into European competition.