Real Madrid: Emery ‘requests’ five exits and Chelsea, Aston Villa stars among three signings
Unai Emery has ‘requested’ that Real Madrid sign three players including Chelsea and Aston Villa stars and send five stars packing if he’s to take over at the Bernabeu.
Alvaro Arbeloa has replaced Xabi Alonso at the helm after the former Bayer Leverkusen boss was sacked earlier this month, but Arbeloa is already under significant pressure having lost two of his first five games in charge, including the dramatic 4-2 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League, which ensured they will have to win a play-off to reach the last 16.
Jurgen Klopp has been heavily linked with taking over at the end of the season but has made no suggestion he’s willing to return to management, which has led to reports claiming Emery – who’s done an outstanding job with Aston Villa – is president Florentino Perez’s top target.
Journalist Ramon Alvarez de Mon revealed on Thursday that Emery is the ‘best positioned’ to take over with talks already taking place.
He wrote on X: ‘If Real Madrid were to decide on a coaching change at the end of the season, Unai Emery would be the best positioned. There have already been conversations in recent days to gauge his availability. More details on the channel.’
A report earlier on Friday claimed Emery has told Madrid to get rid of Vinicius Junior in order to move Kylian Mbappe to the left flank and to make space for Villa standout Morgan Rogers to play as the false 9 in his starting XI.
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And now Spanish outlet Nacional have detailed further demands Emery has made if he’s to ‘take command’ of Los Blancos.
None of Eduardo Camavinga, Franco Mastantuono, Fran Garcia or David Alaba ‘would enter his plans’ and he ‘does not hesitate to ask for their respective sales’, which – as the report notes – is ‘especially striking’ in Mastantuono, who only joined in the summer for around £40m.
Another ‘indispensable requirement for Emery to land in Real Madrid is that they guarantee him two (further) stellar signings’, Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez and Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni.
The report recognises that Fernandez would be a ‘complicated incorporation’ given the fee Chelsea would want for their vice-captain and they would face stiff competition from Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool in their bid to sign Bastoni.
