Emery vindicated: Jordan hails Villa boss as Premier League's finest after Europa triumph

Unai Emery has completed a remarkable rehabilitation of his managerial standing, and Simon Jordan reckons the Aston Villa boss has now settled an old score with his Arsenal past.

Villa's continental conquest came courtesy of a clinical 3-0 demolition of Freiburg in Wednesday's Europa League final, delivering the club's first major silverware in 44 years. For Emery, it represents his fifth European trophy—a haul that speaks volumes about his pedigree on the continent.

The Spaniard's Villa journey has been nothing short of transformative. In three seasons, he's steered the Birmingham outfit to Champions League qualification twice whilst building something genuinely special. Yet Jordan believes the real vindication lies elsewhere: in proving that his earlier stint in north London was a matter of circumstance rather than capability.

"He was the right person probably at the wrong time," the former Crystal Palace chairman reflected on talkSPORT, suggesting Arsenal's timing was askew rather than their judgment fundamentally flawed. Emery had also caught Newcastle's eye before Villa came calling, though Villarreal's hierarchy had other ideas about his departure at that juncture.

What impressed Jordan most was Emery's measured confidence in the aftermath of Wednesday's success. The manager spoke not of finishing lines but new beginnings—a perspective delivered with conviction rather than the hollow platitudes that sometimes pepper post-match interviews.

"He's a class act," Jordan insisted, acknowledging his own frustrations with Villa's occasional defensive lapses, notably during their Tottenham encounter. "The way he communicates, the way he conducts himself—nobody's ridiculing him now. The media had a field day with his early struggles expressing himself in English, but that's all rather quaint in hindsight."

Jordan's most striking claim came when he positioned Emery above the usual suspects in the managerial pecking order. "Given the tools he's working with and the component parts he has, he's arguably the best manager in the Premier League," he declared, before heading off the inevitable Guardiola counter-argument.

"People will suggest that's ridiculous because of Pep, but if you compare all the contrasts and nuance and the different environments, he's done a bloody brilliant job. I think there's still things for Villa to achieve—stabilising their Champions League presence and maintaining top-four status should be the realistic targets going forward."

Gabby Agbonlahor, who wore a Villa shirt himself, has meanwhile suggested his former employers had a "lucky escape" when they plumped for Emery over Ruben Amorim back in 2022. Whether that's hindsight speaking or genuine perspective remains debatable, but Villa's trophy cabinet and Champions League credentials suggest the decision has aged rather well.