Leeds United’s chief executive, Angus Kinnear, has admitted that the club tried to hire Unai Emery before he joined Aston Villa.
Emery became manager of the Villains in October 2022, replacing the outgoing Steven Gerrard who had been sacked a month prior.
In his following 11 months in charge he has taken his side to European football for the first time in 13 years.
The Spaniard has amassed the second most points in the Premier League since his arrival, only runners up to Manchester City.
By comparison, Leeds are in the Championship and have had four different managers in a year.
Jesse Marsch started the season but his team leaked goals, until it became a flood.
This didn’t change under Javi Garcia or Sam Allardyce as the Whites conceding the most goals in the league, with 78.
Leeds were relegated, while Villa achieved their best finish in over ten years, but it could have been so much different.
What has Angus Kinnear said about Unai Emery?
United’s American manager wasn’t sacked until February but it appears they had considered his departure early.
When discussing weighing up his options, he said: “If you look at the stats of when you make a managerial change after about the halfway point in the season, if you’re in a relegation scenario, it’s basically a toss of a coin about whether it works or not.”
In the case of Kinnear and Leeds it did not work.
It appears the chief executive wanted someone like Emery: “There is a 50-50 chance. On 50 per cent of occasions the manager changes things, where it did for Unai Emery.
“Emery is a manager that we couldn’t afford or secure, but turned out to be an excellent choice.”
This shows how hard Villa must have pushed to get their man, which has turned out to be a great idea from the club.
Kinnear took it with a pinch of salt however: “There are equally as many teams who make a managerial change and don’t succeed.”
So in an alternate universe Villa went down and Leeds went on a European tour with Emery, but for now the Villains charge on forward.
