Unai Emery tipped to replace Ruben Amorim at Man Utd after shock Aston Villa exit

Unai Emery has been tipped to replace Ruben Amorim as Manchester United manager, with the Portuguese coach’s position at Old Trafford under serious threat

Ex-Aston Villa ace Stan Collymore has forecasted that Manchester United will soon be ‘sniffing around’ Unai Emery as a potential replacement for Ruben Amorim.

The current Red Devils gaffer, Ruben Amorim, is under immense pressure following a woeful start to the season – the club’s worst since the 1992/93 campaign.

Currently languishing in 11th place in the Premier League, United also suffered a humiliating League Cup defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town. This rocky start follows on from a disappointing 15th place finish last season – their lowest in the Premier League era.

To add insult to injury, they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final in May, meaning Old Trafford will be without European football for the first time in over a decade.

With Amorim’s position looking increasingly shaky, it’s no surprise that some of Europe’s top managerial talent are being linked with the job.

One such name is Villa’s Emery, who was rumoured to be in the running during Erik ten Hag’s troubled stint at United last year. Despite a slow start to the season with Villa, Emery’s work in Birmingham has been widely praised.

His potential departure from Villa Park seems more likely following the exit of the club’s President of Football Operations, Monchi, on Monday, as he and Emery have been closely associated. Now, Collymore has chimed in on the unexpected news from his former club, reports the Mirror.

“Monchi. Lots of social media with others in recruitment about how hard they worked (so do others, especially Brighton and Bournemouth) which struck a chord with Villains as the going was good,” he said via X (Twitter).

“But I make it three resounding successes in the market (players who play for the first team, not jiggery pokery for PSR) in Tielemans, Rogers and Pau out of a 20+ incoming of players. That’s average recruitment at best.

Emery wanted him and this now raises the question as to whether Unai’s tenure will now grind to an end of season halt or whether Unai has agreed with my analysis, biffed off a great friend but “business is business” and a new shiny recruitment guy comes in with a better strike rate.

“Said on here a few weeks back that recruitment at a club like Villa has to be at 80+% success rate in order to compete so that’s the task for the new person. I hope Emery strikes up a rapport with someone new and gets his mojo back, doubles down and commits to the long haul.

“He’s not of our neck of the woods though, he’ll have suitors in Spain, probably one or two big Italian clubs and should United be serious about change then they’ll have a sniff too, why wouldn’t they?

“They can offer almost unlimited resources to back up what Villa did last season with multiple seasons of serious cash support.

“The next 48 hours will tell everything. If he’s bullish and wants to stay, you’ll see it as he’s a straight talker. If he doesn’t look at the camera, fidgets with his ear and doesn’t answer ‘do you see your long term at Villa?’

“Then the owners and new recruitment guy need to get a list together quickly in case he exits sooner or end of season. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. UP THE RECRUITMENTLESS VILLA.”