La Liga side Villarreal announced on Thursday that they have hired former Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal manager Unai Emery as their new head coach. Emery joins the club just days after Javier Calleja was relieved of his duties.
Emery signed a three-year contract with the organization. Reportedly, the two sides have been negotiating for months and just needed to finalize some minor details after Calleja’s departure.
Emery will be tasked with returning Villarreal to the top of La Liga and UEFA Champions League soccer. The club hasn’t played in UCL since 2011, although they came close to qualifying this season, finishing fifth in La Liga.
Unai Emery has been without a job since November when he was fired by Arsenal following a series of poor results. He was linked with several jobs since then, including taking over Premier League side Everton and heading to Spain and sitting at Real Betis’ hot season. However, Everton hired Carlo Ancelotti while Betis opted for Manuel Pellegrini, leaving Emery available for Villarreal.
Emery saw his biggest coaching success with Sevilla, leading the team to three consecutive Europa League trophies. He also has Ligue one trophy with PSG.
