MANCHESTER: Former Aston Villa star Stan Collymore expects Manchester United to start ‘sniffing’ the opportunity to sign Unai Emery as a replacement for Ruben Amorim.
The United head coach is now under immense pressure after a poor start to the season, his worst since the 1992/1993 campaign.
Currently, United are only 11th in the English Premier League and were humiliated when they were eliminated early in the League Cup by small club Grimsby Town.
This season follows a lackluster performance last season which saw them finish in 15th place, their lowest position in the Premier League era.
Even more painfully, they also lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final last May, thus ending a record of more than 10 years of playing on the European stage.
With Amorim’s position increasingly shaky, it is no wonder that several elite coaching names have begun to be linked with Old Trafford.
Among those mentioned is Emery, who was on United’s radar during Erik ten Hag’s difficult era last year.
Despite Villa’s slow start to the season, Emery’s work at Birmingham has received much praise.
The possibility of him leaving Villa Park is now heating up after the club’s President of Football Operations, Monchi, a close friend of Emery, announced his resignation on Monday.
Commenting on the matter, Collymore said on the X account: “Monchi… there’s been a lot of praise on social media for his hard work in terms of signing players, but for me only three players have really been successful, Tielemans, Rogers and Pau, out of over 20 players brought in. That’s just a modest record.
“Emery wants Monchi, so the question is whether Emery’s time at Villa will slow down and end at the end of the season, or whether he has come to terms with the fact, let go of a good friend for ‘business’ reasons and will work with someone new.”
Collymore added that clubs like Villa need at least 80 percent success in recruitment to remain competitive.
However, he did not rule out the possibility that Emery would be in the running for another big club in Europe.
“He’s not a local, there must be clubs in Spain, maybe even Italy that are interested.
“If United are serious about making changes, they will also try to get them because they can offer huge financial resources that Villa cannot match,” he said.
“Everything will be clear in 48 hours. If he wants to stay, Emery will show it with clear words. But if he avoids questions about his future at Villa, the club’s owner and Monchi’s successor will have to quickly prepare a list of new candidates.”