President reveals that Aston Villa man turned down move to Champions League rivals

Add as preferred source on Google

Unai Emery has not only led Aston Villa to the Champions League, but to the summit of this new-look Champions League table.

As John McGinn and Jhon Duran fired Aston Villa past Bologna on Tuesday night, the Midland giants became the only team in the competition to win three games out of three in the first round.

After hammering BSC Young Boys and after Villa stunned Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich while partying like it was 1982 all over again, last season’s Serie A surprise packages were the latest to be blown away by that claret-and-blue storm.

As things stand, Aston Villa’s closest rivals at the top of the table, with two wins and a draw apiece, are Sporting Lisbon, Monaco and, as David Raya’s heroics saw Mikel Arteta and co past Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal.

Unai Emery, of course, walked – or should that be stumbled – so Arteta could run at the Emirates.

And, if things had worked out differently, the Aston Villa boss might have been ended up in the dugout of another of the tournament’s high-flyers.

Unai Emery has Aston Villa leading Champions League charge ahead of Sporting Lisbon

Before pulling the wheel out of Steven Gerrard’s grasp and saving a sinking ship from hitting the seabed, Emery was targeted by Sporting Lisbon to take over at the Portuguese giants.

That is according to Frederico Varandas, the Sporting president.

Speaking to the media, he reveals that Emery was among a number of coaches Sporting considered, alongside ex-Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim and former Barcelona tactician Quique Setien, before Ruben Amorim got the gig back in 2021.

“Ruben Amorim made a 100 per cent rational decision [to join Sporting]. He had the courage to accept the challenge and we were heavily criticised,” Varandas explains to reporters.

“I can say, without any problem, [we tried to hire] Leonardo Jardim, Abel Ferreira, Unai Emery, Rui Jorge, Quique Setien. They all thanked us, but they didn’t want to come.”

Of course, Sporting will have few regrets about how things have panned out at the Estadio Jose Alvalade since then.

While Emery has done remarkable work at Villa Park, the same can be said of Amorim in the Portuguese capital.

Sporting Lisbon had not won the Primeira Liga title since the days of a young, baby-faced and buck-teethed Cristiano Ronaldo 20 years prior to Amorim’s appointment. Now, with eight wins out of eight to start the new campaign, Sporting are looking for a third crown in four years.

“Ruben Amorim, unlike the others, didn’t hesitate,” Varandas adds. “And I have to praise the courage of a young coach who, supposedly, would come to a graveyard of coaches.”

Amorom has been linked with the Manchester City job of late with Pep Guardiola’s contract expiring and Sporting director Hugo Viana bound for the Etihad. TBR has learned, however, that Man City are yet to open talks with former Portugal international Amorim.

Unai Emery delighted by Aston Villa’s European progress

With Club Brugge to come up next, another win would leave Aston Villa with a 100 per cent record halfway through the first phase.

Secure the three points in Belgium, and Villa could already start to look ahead of the knockout rounds in 2025.

“I’m really happy because we won 2-0,” Emery said after Duran maintained his stunning goalscoring run with the decider against Bologna.

“We had chances, we controlled the game like we were planning before and now we keep going. We are happy and we have to be delighted with the way we are doing in the Champions League, but there are still a lot of matches to play and we have to keep our balance.

“This is our challenge, my challenge, and I’m sending the message to the players: we have to keep the level increasing.

“This high level we are trying to keep is the most challenging we can have in Champions League, in the Premier League.

“The players must be committed for this challenge like I think we need.”