Insider: Unai Emery fighting for his job at Aston Villa after 'disaster'
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Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
Callum O'Connell
Thu 4 September 2025 10:06, UK
Unai Emery is fighting for his job at Aston Villa following a “disastrous” start to the season so far, according to their former senior scout.
Mick Brown, who also worked as the chief scout at Man United and Sunderland and remains very well-connected at his former clubs, exclusively told Football Insider that the 53-year-old will shoulder the blame for the club’s difficult summer.
While the boss has credit in the bank thanks to his success since arriving at Villa Park, he is not immune to pressure if results don’t pick up soon.
Emery could find himself in trouble at Villa after a difficult transfer window and poor start to the season leading to the finger being pointed at him.
After three games, zero wins and zero goals scored against Newcastle, Brentford and Crystal Palace, questions could soon be asked of the manager’s role.
Villa’s financial situation had also raised issues behind the scenes leading to a difficult transfer window, which has placed the boss in a difficult position.
Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media
This article contains exclusive comment from Mick Brown, a football transfer expert and former chief scout for Man United and Sunderland among others.
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Brown told Football Insider in June that Emery could come under pressure at Aston Villa as a result of their difficult summer transfer window.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience working closely with elite-level managers including the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Ron Atkinson at Man United, insisted that the pressure is now beginning to grow at the start of the season.
“Unai Emery could come under pressure soon,” he told Football Insider.
“It’s been a disastrous start to the season for Aston Villa, in all honesty.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, if you go winless and goalless after three games in the Premier League, questions start to be asked.
“He’s got a lot of credit in the bank at Villa, but unfortunately that’s how the game works.
“You can have an amazing season, but start the next one poorly and everything good is forgotten.
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“From building up the team and helping them to challenge for top positions in the Premier League and in Europe, he’s suddenly had the rug pulled from under him.
“Because of this financial situation, they haven’t been able to back him heavily in the market and they were forced to sell a couple of players.
“But at the end of the day, it won’t be the board who come under pressure, it’ll be the manager.
“So he needs to keep getting results on the pitch, because if they can’t score goals and they keep losing games, everybody knows who will get the blame.”
One deal Villa managed to get over the line on deadline day was to sign Jadon Sancho on loan from Man United for the rest of the season.
However, Brown told Football Insider on 2 September that Man United are “delighted” with the deal after initially fearing they would be unable to move him on.
Credit: Manh Tung – Breaking Media
Villa are believed to be covering around 80 per cent of the 25-year-old’s significant wage packet, easing the considerable financial burden on Man United.
This came after Football Insider exclusively revealed that Man United had slashed Sancho’s asking price alongside Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund to force through moves.
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