Unai Emery is doing an outstanding job at Aston Villa, but his name has been doing the rounds in the media regarding Manchester United.
Following Erik ten Hag’s sacking, some feel Emery would leave Villa to join Manchester United.
Of course, Emery recently signed a new contract at Aston Villa, is in Europe’s elite competition, currently sitting fourth in the Premier League and sitting top of the Champions League group.
That’s why Villa fans were quick to shut down any suggestions that Emery would leave their club for another that is in dire straits.
The issue for those at Old Trafford is that they have been in a heap of mess for over a decade now and post-Sir Alex Ferguson nothing seems to be working.
Ten Hag was the latest person to bite the dust and now everyone is waiting to see who will be the next man through the door.
But Ally McCoist put one thing to bed about whether top players would join Manchester United now or Aston Villa.
Top players would join Aston Villa over Manchester United
There is no doubt that Manchester United have splashed some serious cash over the years, their only issue is that most of it looks like junk.
Whereas Emery, and even the likes of Dean Smith before that, have proven and shown how it should be done.
Youri Tielemans is one of the best players in the Premier League, yet Villa snapped him up on a free transfer last summer.
And McCoist made it clear that any of the top players now, if they had a choice, would pick the likes of Villa over Manchester United, as he told talkSPORT.
“Success is missing for them,” said McCoist on Manchester United not being able to attract the top players.
“The Champions League is the best competition on the planet, in terms of football. That’s what we all want to watch. The best players want to play in. The top coaches want to manage in. Manchester United are a good bit away from that.
“Therefore, it makes common sense that if the top players have got a choice, nowadays to go to Arsenal. I will even bring Aston Villa into the equation. Liverpool and Manchester City, obviously. They are going to go there because financially it won’t be that much of a difference to them – if somebody has got a choice, they have got to weigh it up because financially it won’t be that much of a difference.”
Aston Villa and Manchester United’s net spend during the past five years
It can’t be argued that Villa have spent a fair bit since their promotion, but they have spent it wisely and it has got them into a position where they are now a Champions League club.
But, one thing is for sure, they haven’t splashed as much as Manchester United have because they are miles ahead.
As posted by Football 365, Manchester United sit second in the table when it comes to net spend over the past five years, just under £-600 million, with Chelsea clear at the top at a whopping £-795.24m.
That’s half of what those in the Midlands have done because Villa are just above £-200 million and just this summer their net spend was £-26.26m.
2) Manchester United: £-547.96m
24/25: £-93.93m
23/24: £-121.23m (8th)
22/23: £-184.95m (3rd)
21/22: £-93.4m (6th)
20/21: £-54.27m (2nd)
9) Aston Villa: £-217m
24/25: £-26.26m
23/24: £-66.48m (4th)
22/23: £-38.85m (7th)
21/22: £-2.39m (14th)
20/21: £-83m (11th)
