Saturday, May 05, 2012

Liverpool Possible Destination For Unai Emery

Liverpool is a possible destination for Valencia coach Unai Emery, according to Valencia Plaza.

Emery is set to leave Los Che when his contract expires on 30th June, with the Mestalla faithful having grown disillusioned with the club’s failure to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga.

Memories of the heady days of Rafael Benitez are still fresh in Valencia and Emery’s inability to move his side beyond third spot is causing Los Che to look elsewhere, despite the Spaniard having to operate with a significantly smaller budget than the Blaugrana and Los Blancos.

But even if Emery’s stock has reached an all time low at the Mestalla, it is sky high elsewhere, with a number of clubs queuing up to secure the 40-year-old’s services.

Heading that group are Greek champions Olympiacos and Basque outfit Real Sociedad.

Olympiacos are keen for Emery to succeed countryman Ernesto Valverde, who has departed Greece after two successive title winning campaigns, while Real Sociedad want to steer clear of relegation worries next season with the former midfielder at the helm.

However, a possible switch to Liverpool could trump all offers for the current Valencia coach.

The Reds have endured a disastrous Premier League campaign under Kenny Dalglish and £110M lavished in the transfer market under the fan favourite has failed to bring Champions League football back to Anfield.

While Dalglish could lead Liverpool to a domestic cup double if he can plot the downfall of Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley this weekend, the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, could choose to place their trust in Emery for next season.

Should Emery make the switch to Merseyside, he would be following a path first trodden by Rafael Benitez, who swapped Valencia for Liverpool in 2004, with spectacular results as the Champions League was won in 2005.

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