Aston Villa

Aston Villa

Premier League • England

Aston Villa rocked as Bayern Munich prepare brutal raid for the one man they cannot lose

Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, manager Unai Emery

Bayern have made a key Aston Villa man their No 1 priority

Bayern Munich are hot on the idea of appointing Aston Villa boss Unai Emery as their next manager, and one legendary figure within the game has explained why one key hurdle isn’t as big of an issue as you’d think.

Aston Villa boast a squad containing several Champions League-calibre stars. The likes of Emiliano Martinez, Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins are top tier players and their efforts this term have put Villa on the cusp of UCL qualification.

Furthermore, Villa are the overwhelming favourites to lift the Europa Conference League after advancing past Lille via a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-final stages.

Martinez was the hero on Thursday night, Luiz’s displays have earned him a £100m-plus price tag and Watkins has returned an incredible 36 goal contributions this season.

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However, arguably the most important figure in Villa’s recent rise is manager Unai Emery.

As such, it’ll come as sombre news to Villa fans to learn of Bayern Munich making the Spaniard their primary target to succeed Thomas Tuchel.

That’s according to BILD who claim Emery and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi are the two candidates Bayern director Max Eberl is considering. Of the pair, it’s stated Emery is viewed more favourably than De Zerbi at present.

Emery, De Zerbi wanted after double fail

Bayern will part ways with Tuchel this summer and efforts to land Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann have failed.

Alonso has elected to remain loyal to Bayer Leverkusen for at least one more season. Nagelsmann recently signed a new deal that will tie his future to the German national team job until 2026.

Furthermore, links to Zinedine Zidane have been rubbished by Sky Germany. As such, Bayern’s focus is now on De Zerbi and per BILD, Unai Emery too.

There are no suggestions at this stage as to what Emery’s stance on leaving Villa for Bayern would be.

Emery is contracted to Villa Park until 2027 and the club will be reluctant in the extreme to part ways.

Nonetheless, one legendary figure within the game has already backed Emery to be a huge hit in Munich.

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Language barrier not a problem – Lothar Matthaus

Bayern and Germany icon, Lotthar Matthaus, believes Emery is the ideal man to usher in a new era of dominance at Bayern.

The Bavarians surrendered their 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga to Bayer Leverkusen this term and Bayern are prepared to hit the reset button as a result.

Speaking to Sky Germany, Matthaus hitched his wagon to Emery and also explained why the language barrier isn’t the level of issue you might expect in Germany.

“I would get Unai Emery from Aston Villa,” said Matthaus. “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.”

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