Emery is a 'magician' - former Villa chief executive

Former Aston Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner has labelled Unai Emery a "magician".

The Villa boss took over when the club was three points above the relegation zone in November 2022 before taking them into Europe by the end of the season.

He has guided Villa to the Champions League twice, having sealed a second qualification last week after beating Liverpool, and is on the brink of ending the club's 30-year trophy drought in Istanbul.

"He's been incredible as a manager. The team was struggling under his predecessor, Steven Gerrard, and he's just transformed it," said Faulkner, who was chief executive under former owner Randy Lerner for four years.

"He's got a lot of the same players, they've added a little bit to the squad but a lot of this team have been there for an awfully long time, predating the manager.

"You see how he's managed to knit that unit together and get consistent results. Absolutely remarkable, I think he's a magician.

"It would be nice now just to cap that off with some silverware. These opportunities are tough to get to so when you are in a final it'll be great to get the tangible return on the brilliant work he's done."