Aston Villa have announced that Unai Emery has signed a new five-year contract.
Since taking charge in October 2022, the 52-year-old has overseen a tremendous rise with Villa after steering them away from relegation in 2022/23 before sealing a fourth-placed finish this season, and a spot in next season's UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history.
“I am very happy to take this step and the responsibility of leading this club,” Emery said on the club's official website.
“Since I came to Villa with Wes [Edens] and Nassef [Sawiris] we found always the best environment and structure to develop a project with the highest ambition.
“All the football structure with Monchi and Damian and the owners, we share the same vision and same goals.
“There’s a great chemistry in Aston Villa. And the element of the fans’ support also makes the difference to feel like home. We are really excited to continue this journey with no limits to our dreams.”
Emery's impact
When Villa decided to let Steven Gerrard go as manager on 21 October 2022 they were 17th after 11 matches with nine points and out of the relegation zone on goals scored only.
Emery was appointed on 24 October and prior to his first match on 6 November - a superb 3-1 win against Manchester United - Villa were still marginally out of the bottom three.
From there, his side showed great consistency as they only lost six of their remaining 24 matches.
And this season produced several highs under Emery as they beat Manchester City 1-0 at home, a match in which they restricted the champions to just two shots on target, both of which came in the opening 15 minutes, and racked up 22 attempts on goal, the most shots City have conceded in a Premier League match under Pep Guardiola at the time.
Villa also secured the league double over second-placed Arsenal, winning 1-0 at home before enjoying a 2-0 success at Emirates Stadium.
One of Emery's best achievements was overseeing a 15-match winning run at home which started with a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace on 4 March 2023.
Villa's run was the joint fourth-longest winning sequence in Premier League history.
Longest home winning runs
| Team | Start date | End date | No. of successive home wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 09/02/2019 | 05/07/2020 | 24 |
| Man City | 05/03/2011 | 21/03/2012 | 20 |
| Man Utd | 30/10/2010 | 01/10/2011 | 19 |
| Man City | 19/01/2023 | 04/11/2023 | 15 |
| Aston Villa | 04//03/2023 | 09/12/2023 | 15 |