DUBAI: Ahead of a summer when three of the biggest jobs in world soccer are up for grabs, Unai Emery became the latest top coach to decide to stay put.
The Aston Villa manager extended his contract until 2027 on Tuesday to stay in Birmingham at a time when Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich all have looming vacancies.
In recent weeks, candidates Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann took themselves off the market by committing their futures to Bayer Leverkusen and Germany, respectively.
Emery was reportedly on the radar of Bayern and Barcelona after establishing himself as one of the shrewdest coaches in the sport with his work at Villa over the past two seasons.
Having taken over a team that were in danger of relegation in October 2022, he has guided Villa to fourth in the Premier League and into the semifinals of the Europa Conference League.
“We are enjoying our way together with Villa fans, the club owners, management and this great group of players that we are proud of,” Emery said Tuesday.
“Ambition already is, and must always be, the motto of this project.”
The field of candidates for the jobs at Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern is shrinking.
Alonso was the favorite for Liverpool and Bayern, having played for both teams during a storied career. But he announced last month that he would remain at Leverkusen, the team he has gone on to lead to their first German title at the expense of Bayern.
“This is the right place for me to be, to develop as a coach,” Alonso said.
Nagelsmann, fired by Bayern last season, was a contender to return to the German giant until last week when he extended his contract with the national team through to the 2026 World Cup. He was also considered a possibility for Liverpool, which faces the daunting task of replacing Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season.
Klopp said in January he would step down after a trophy-laden spell of more than eight years on Merseyside.
Alonso seemed like a natural fit as an ex-player who has made a remarkable start to his coaching career with Leverkusen.
Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim replaced Alonso as the favorite for the Liverpool job, while Roberto De Zerbi has impressed at Brighton.
Bayern need a replacement for Thomas Tuchel, who is stepping down at the end of the season. His reputation has taken a hit after failing to win the title this year, but he could yet walk away a Champions League winner after leading Bayern to the semifinals of European club soccer’s elite competition.
The Champions League trophy could yet see Tuchel in the running for one of the other two top jobs available this summer.
Barcelona need a new coach after Xavi Hernández said in January that this would be his last season.
Speculation that Emery was on the Catalan club’s radar had increased in recent days.
Emery’s reputation has only grown since taking over from Steven Gerrard when Villa was above the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Emery, who joined from Villarreal, led Villa to a seventh-place finish and qualified the team for Europe for the first time since 2010. Villa did not say at the time of his appointment in 2022 how long his original contract would run.
The 52-year-old Emery has won four Europa League trophies — three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal — and won the French league title with Paris Saint-Germain.
He previously coached in England with Arsenal from 2018-19.
“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,” club chairman Nassef Sawiris said.
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Three top clubs need a new coach, Emery off the market after Aston Villa extension
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Three top clubs need a new coach, Emery off the market after Aston Villa extension
- “We are enjoying our way together with Villa fans, the club owners, management and this great group of players that we are proud of,” Emery said Tuesday
- The field of candidates for the jobs at Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern is shrinking
Hosts Morocco face Mane’s Senegal for AFCON glory
- Final kicks off at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco
- Senegal are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph
RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations reaches its climax on Sunday with a showdown between host nation Morocco, looking to win the title for the first time in 50 years, and Sadio Mane’s powerful Senegal side.
The final kicks off at 1900 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco, captained by African player of the year Achraf Hakimi.
The first AFCON ever to start in one year and end in another could be the second in a row to be won by the host nation, with the Atlas Lions aiming to follow in the footsteps of Ivory Coast, crowned champions on home soil in 2024.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco have established themselves in recent years as Africa’s pre-eminent national team, becoming the first from the continent to reach a World Cup semifinal, in 2022, and climbing to 11th place in the world rankings.
However, they have long been AFCON underachievers, with their only title to date coming in 1976. This will be their first final since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia when Regragui was part of the team.
Senegal, meanwhile, are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph, when Mane scored the decisive shoot-out penalty against Egypt in Yaounde.
“We dreamt of being here and now we have done it,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
He has been under suffocating pressure to deliver the title for the football-mad nation, and would possibly not have kept his job through to the approaching World Cup in North America had he not reached the final.
“I hope this is just the beginning and not our last AFCON final,” he added.
“Big football nations want to be up there on a regular basis. Tomorrow we want to try to make history.”
He added: “Senegal will need to be really strong to beat us at home, although they are capable.”
Morocco’s success over the last four weeks has been based around the attacking threat of Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and a defense which has conceded only once.
Security concerns
Being at home brings extra pressure, but can also be a huge advantage, and Senegal have complained about the conditions in which they were welcomed to Rabat ahead of the game.
The Lions of Teranga were based in the northern port city of Tangiers until they arrived in Rabat by train on Friday.
The Senegalese Football Federation complained about a “lack of adequate security” for the team’s arrival amid a crowd of fans “which put the players and staff at risk.”
It also complained about their hotel, the fact that their supporters were given fewer than 3,000 tickets for the final, and about being asked to train at the Moroccan team’s base in nearby Sale.
“What happened was not normal,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw.
“Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger.
“That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”
Mane, a two-time winner of the African player of the year award, said after netting the winner in the semifinal against Egypt that Sunday’s game would be his last ever AFCON appearance.
But Thiaw insisted on the eve of the game that the former Liverpool forward may have to rethink that decision.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree,” said Thiaw.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible,” added the coach, who is without center-back and captain Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension.
Off the pitch this edition of Africa’s premier sports event has demonstrated that Morocco is determined to be a successful co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament has been free of the problems that have plagued earlier AFCONs, the stadiums and pitches have generally been of a high quality and high-speed rail links show a country significantly upgrading its infrastructure.
The final kicks off at 1900 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco, captained by African player of the year Achraf Hakimi.
The first AFCON ever to start in one year and end in another could be the second in a row to be won by the host nation, with the Atlas Lions aiming to follow in the footsteps of Ivory Coast, crowned champions on home soil in 2024.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco have established themselves in recent years as Africa’s pre-eminent national team, becoming the first from the continent to reach a World Cup semifinal, in 2022, and climbing to 11th place in the world rankings.
However, they have long been AFCON underachievers, with their only title to date coming in 1976. This will be their first final since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia when Regragui was part of the team.
Senegal, meanwhile, are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph, when Mane scored the decisive shoot-out penalty against Egypt in Yaounde.
“We dreamt of being here and now we have done it,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
He has been under suffocating pressure to deliver the title for the football-mad nation, and would possibly not have kept his job through to the approaching World Cup in North America had he not reached the final.
“I hope this is just the beginning and not our last AFCON final,” he added.
“Big football nations want to be up there on a regular basis. Tomorrow we want to try to make history.”
He added: “Senegal will need to be really strong to beat us at home, although they are capable.”
Morocco’s success over the last four weeks has been based around the attacking threat of Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and a defense which has conceded only once.
Security concerns
Being at home brings extra pressure, but can also be a huge advantage, and Senegal have complained about the conditions in which they were welcomed to Rabat ahead of the game.
The Lions of Teranga were based in the northern port city of Tangiers until they arrived in Rabat by train on Friday.
The Senegalese Football Federation complained about a “lack of adequate security” for the team’s arrival amid a crowd of fans “which put the players and staff at risk.”
It also complained about their hotel, the fact that their supporters were given fewer than 3,000 tickets for the final, and about being asked to train at the Moroccan team’s base in nearby Sale.
“What happened was not normal,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw.
“Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger.
“That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”
Mane, a two-time winner of the African player of the year award, said after netting the winner in the semifinal against Egypt that Sunday’s game would be his last ever AFCON appearance.
But Thiaw insisted on the eve of the game that the former Liverpool forward may have to rethink that decision.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree,” said Thiaw.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible,” added the coach, who is without center-back and captain Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension.
Off the pitch this edition of Africa’s premier sports event has demonstrated that Morocco is determined to be a successful co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament has been free of the problems that have plagued earlier AFCONs, the stadiums and pitches have generally been of a high quality and high-speed rail links show a country significantly upgrading its infrastructure.
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