Unai Emery still learning English after Arsenal failure as he plots next job

1/9
James Olley8 January 2020

Unai Emery is continuing to take English lessons with a view to one day landing another Premier League job.

The 48-year-old was sacked as Arsenal head coach in November after 18 months in charge but has retained accommodation near the club’s London Colney training base.

Standard Sport understands Emery is still meeting regularly with the language teacher who helped him during his time with the Gunners in an effort to improve his communication skills.

He was linked with the Everton job prior to Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment and although Emery’s time at Emirates Stadium ended in failure, it is believed he is keen to prove himself in what he views as the best league in the world.

The Spaniard was, however, unable to communicate effectively with Arsenal players with youngster Bukayo Saka claiming in September that Freddie Ljungberg’s promotion to work with the first-team group helped the younger players because “he speaks better English”.

Emery’s attempts to rectify that are an intriguing step given he had struggled to adapt to life in England and regularly returned to Spain when the football calendar afforded him the opportunity.

Everton contacted Emery about their vacancy following Marco Silva’s sacking but he believed the job had come too soon after his departure from Arsenal.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs Leeds | 06/01/2020

1/20

"They (Everton) were interested in me,” Emery told Spanish TV show ‘El Larguero’ on Tuesday. “I thought about it. I didn't say no, we had a three-hour conversation. They already loved me when I went to PSG. I want this break to be a reflection. My first idea is to stay here in Madrid and go to Valencia and London. Then also visit my family in San Sebastian."

Despite being open to the idea of working again in England, a return to Spain seems a more obvious next move given the lack of possible options here.

In demand: Emery held talks over the Everton job days after leaving Arsenal
AFP via Getty Images

Everton, Tottenham and West Ham have all appointed new managers while Manchester United are expected to target Mauricio Pochettino should they lose faith in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Therefore a return to management overseas remains the most likely option now although he is believed to have turned down two offers from the Chinese Super League with Emery keen on continuing his career in a major European league.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT