Emery on Champions League, Man Utd and transfers

Yahoo

23-05-2025

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Manchester United (kick-off 16:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On realistically needing Chelsea or Newcastle to drop points to help his side qualify for the Champions League: "It is not in our hands but we are grateful to be here now."
He added he is proud of how his side have found form after struggling earlier in the season: "I am so, so proud of our club, our supporters, our players, the workers and employees. We have been demanding and consistent in the second half of the season to arrive at the key moment with the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League."
He is not interested in how other teams are performing on Sunday: "In our hands is only our result on Sunday. That's the only issue I want to focus on with the players. I don't want to know other results. I want only to play our match, only to focus on our match in 90 minutes and try to focus the dressing room on everything tactically and individually. We must win, we must compete and we must get our result."
Asked about whether Manchester United, who are 16th in the Premier League and lost Wednesday's Europa League final to Tottenham, are still a threat: "The greatness is still there - the coach is great and the players are very good."
On Villa trio Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins being named in the recent England squad: "Their development has been clear. They have come up from playing in the Championship to playing international football."
Emery is "so happy" with his current squad and is not looking at summer transfers, but added Villa always must stay "alert" about potential arrivals.
Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news