Damià Vidagany believes Unai Emery isn’t valued a lot in Spain because he hasn’t been at Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Radio Marca had a chat with the Aston Villa director about Emery’s impact on the Premier League side.
Emery has previously managed Valencia, Sevilla and Villarreal in Spain, but hasn’t been at Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The Spaniard left Villarreal to join Villa in October 2022. He has transformed the English club, helping them qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over four decades.
Aston Villa are currently third in the table, a point behind second placed Manchester City and three behind leaders Arsenal.
Emery’s side were financially restricted last summer and had a poor start to the season. To put it in context, they failed to win any of their first five matches. Since then, Aston Villa have won 11 of their last 12 matches.
Vidagany has hailed his compatriot, especially taking the financial context into account.
“Unai is the key person in our entire structure. He is competing every year against teams with three times the budget,” he said.
“We currently have the best manager in the Premier League. He’s a manager who believes in results, who believes in performance through player improvement.”
The Aston Villa official then talked about the manager not being appreciated a lot in his own country.
“Emery isn’t more recognised in Spain because he hasn’t managed Real Madrid or Barcelona,” Vidagany explained.
Radio Marca states the director’s comment suggests ‘it’s a matter of context rather than performance’.