Real Madrid sent Unai Emery warning with Aston Villa boss in "very tricky situation"

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer, with reports claiming the Spaniard is being considered as a potential replacement for Alvaro Arbeloa.

Real Madrid are expected to replace Arbeloa after failing to win a major trophy for a second consecutive season.

Former Los Blancos manager Jose Mourinho has also been heavily linked with a sensational return to the Bernabeu, but Emery is also said to be high on Real Madrid's shortlist.

And ex-Villa midfielder Andy Townsend believes Emery will be in a "very tricky situation" if Real Madrid come calling, but feels that Villa are the "perfect club" for him.

Speaking exclusively to Sports Mole, Townsend gave his thoughts on Emery's future.

Real Madrid sent Unai Emery warning

Emery has done an excellent job since taking charge of Villa in 2022 and could guide them to their first major European trophy since 1982 if they can beat Freiburg in the Europa League final.

When asked about Emery's future and the links with Real Madrid ahead of the final, Townsend suggested staying at Villa would "suit him best".

"It’s absolutely massive for Aston Villa to keep hold of Unai Emery," Townsend told Sports Mole on behalf of football betting site BetVictor. "He’s a brilliant manager. I think a club like Villa suits him best, where he can have absolute final say.

"He can have control. He can be the one making 90% of the key decisions. I think because he’s meticulous with his detail, his preparation, dealing with matches and players and things like that. having that sort of control is key and very important for the way that he works at his best.

"He gets that at Villa. He might not get that at Real Madrid, which has been rumoured. But I think at the moment he's quite rightly saying nothing. He's going to use some speculation to his advantage in terms of what he can possibly get from Villa over the coming months.

"It's a very tricky little situation. I think he's been sensational for Villa and I think it's the perfect club for him. I think he's now quite rightly in a position where he's just testing maybe everyone around him at the club to see exactly where they want to go with this project."

Aston Villa facing "big problem" ahead of Champions League return

Villa secured a return to the Champions League last week when they thumped Liverpool 4-2 at Villa Park and Townsend believes they can enjoy another impressive campaign in European football's most prestigious club competition, although the financial restrictions facing the club could prove a "big problem".

"Well, Aston Villa showed last year that they can get to the quarter-final in the Champions League," Townsend added. "Unai Emery is very good at plotting his way through cup campaigns. I think the new format of the Champions League suits Villa in the sense that you can afford to have a sluggish start and still find your way to the knockout stage through a play-off game.

"Sometimes in the old four-team groups, you lose a game or draw a couple of games early on and you can be chasing and under pressure. So I think that certainly helps. Does he get everything he wants in the summer? This is the big problem for him at Villa, the financial restraints and restrictions that are around the club at the moment because of the capacity of the ground.

"They just can't get the numbers in to generate the turnover to improve everything as much as they would like. There's a redevelopment of the north stand happening. Villa Park is going to be, think, over 50,000 capacity once it's all done, which will make a significant difference.

"Can they get into the thick end of the Champions League again? The difficulty I see for Villa is keeping their best players. I think they can always go and be competitive and buying, they will always be able to go and buy very good players, not off the top shelf. I don't think they’re going to be getting the £100m+ players because they just haven't got the funds to do that.

"But they can always buy very good players, they can always make shrewd acquisitions. We've seen a lot of those: Morgan Rogers, how he has developed under Unai. He's now going to be worth knocking on £100m. I think the club is in a position now where it would be very strange to me to see Villa outside of the top six.

"Can Aston Villa win the Premier League? I think they've got a lot to do to do that, but it's so competitive at the top and the other teams are spending big money. I think Villa are rightly now a team that would always be disappointed if they're not at least in the top six every year."

Amid concerns regarding Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), it has been claimed that Villa may have to sell some of their top stars with midfielder Youri Tielemans linked with a move away this summer.