Newcastle United may soon be in the market for a new manager, and if reports are to be believed, Unai Emery could be in the frame to step into the hot seat at St James’ Park.
Emery is a very accomplished manager, and to be honest, Newcastle will be an interesting job for the Spaniard. After all, he’s used to managing some world superstars at clubs like PSG and Arsenal.
While Newcastle’s squad may be of a lower quality than Emery is used to, there’s one player on Tyneside who he knows very well – Joe Willock.
Willock played plenty of football under Emery at Arsenal, and the former Gunners boss had plenty of good things to say about the Englishman during their time together.
What’s been said?
Emery was full of praise for Willock back in October 2019.
“He is deserving us continuing to give him chances and, really, now we can say he is with us, in the squad and the first XI because he deserves it. His progress is a very good example as a positive to many others,” Emery said.
“I told him he is improving but he needs to not stop that improvement, we are working with him to improve even more.
“But, if his progression keeps going the way it is going right now, I don’t know when he will stop and how far he can go.”
Unlock the potential
We saw last season that Emery was right about Willock.
The midfielder had a run of seven goals in seven games for Newcastle last term, and Emery could be the manager that is able to consistently unlock Willock’s potential.
This term, his performances have waned, there’s no doubt about that, but perhaps if Willock is re-united with the Spaniard he’ll be back to his best sooner rather than later.
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