Unai Emery currently stands as the leading contender to becoming the new manager of Newcastle United.
Former boss Steve Bruce left the club by mutual consent on October 20 after achieving a 27.4 percent win percentage from his 84 league games in charge of the club.
Since then, Graeme Jones has stood in as caretaker manager and overseen a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace and a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
As per the Athletic, it appears that Unai Emery is currently the leading man to take over the role as Newcastle’s preferred choice. Eddie Howe is reportedly the alternative option.
Emery spent a season in charge of Arsenal before moving to Villarreal, where he went on to beat Manchester United to claim last year’s Europa League trophy. He had also previously won the trophy on three consecutive occasions with Sevilla between 2013 and 2016.
The 49-year-old tactician is under contract at Villarreal until the summer of 2023, so Newcastle would have to pay a compensation package in order to bring him to St James’ Park. According to the Athletic’s information, Newcastle would have to pay Villarreal six million euros to secure Emery’s services.
No from Lampard, Gerrard and Conte?
Since Newcastle’s 305 million pound takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund on October 7, there has been a lot of speculation as to who would take over after Steve Bruce’s inevitable departure.
Many pointed towards the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Antonio Conte as future successors, but it would appear as though that is no longer the case.
With Conte in a verbal agreement to take over as Tottenham Hotpur head coach, Gerrard firmly tied up under contract with Rangers, and Lampard still awaiting his chance to get the Chelsea job back, it appears the Magpies are in the market for a former Arsenal manager instead.
With two years at Paris Saint-Germain under his belt, just over a season at Arsenal and three years at Sevilla on his CV, Emery may well be the right guy for the job.
