Newcastle United’s Amanda Staveley went ‘above and beyond’ to secure Villarreal boss Unai Emery, even making him a ‘phenomenal’ contract offer.
That’s according to The Chronicle, who claim that Emery was offered well in excess of the £6million-a-year Rafael Benitez previously earned at Newcastle.
The offer is described as ‘phenomenal’ with director Staveley personally pushing to try and get the deal done.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, Emery rejected the move and has instead chosen to stay with Villarreal.
Emery allegedly disputed how the club’s structure worked for him – a four-time Europa League winner – and backup target Eddie Howe.
Newcastle allegedly view these reasons for rejecting the move as ‘pedantic’, but want to learn for the future.
That may mean fewer leaks and a more clear plan to put over to candidates having missed out on top target Emery.
Where next for Newcastle after Emery snub?
Howe now looks to be the favourite for the job. The former Bournemouth boss has been out of work since leaving the Cherries in 2020.
Howe rejected a move to Celtic over the summer but could now return to management with Newcastle.
Roberto Martinez would also make sense given his desire to return to club football and his history with Newcastle coach Graeme Jones.
Paulo Fonseca and Lucien Favre were targets earlier in the process and remain without clubs, so could come back into Newcastle’s thinking.
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