Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Thu 21 May 2026 10:00, UK

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Unai Emery entered the Aston Villa history books when he ended a 30-year wait for a major trophy in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

The Spaniard’s team beat SC Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul, with Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers getting on the scoresheet.

It is Emery’s first trophy since becoming Villa boss in 2022, and the fifth Europa League success of his career.

However, victory has raised a question for the 54-year-old: How much further can he take his team?

There have already been suggestions that Villa’s manager was considering his future ahead of this summer, and those discussions may now take on a new focus.

Could Unai Emery leave Aston Villa?

Football Insider exclusively revealed in March that Emery is increasingly likely to leave Villa this summer, with discontentment over the financial restrictions on the club growing.

Qualification for the Champions League will massively aid in quelling those issues, but the Villans will still be unable to spend in the same way the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea do.

It is the difference that, for many of the Premier League clubs looking to break into the big six, can make it seem an impossible task.

For now, Villa will not have to think about that. Victory in Istanbul ended a 30-year wait for a major trophy, and a 44-year wait for a European one.

Rightly so, the celebrations will be fierce and continuous, with Thursday’s parade in Birmingham the product of years of planning and development.

However, when the dust settles, Emery may be left asking himself: what next? Villa have proved their ability to win this season, but they feel some way from a potential Premier League or Champions League challenge.

The 54-year-old has made history at Villa Park, but there may well be a point at which he believes he can take his team no further.

Emery’s comments remain on track

Publicly, Emery has kept his focus on Villa’s future, targeting successful campaigns in the Premier League and Champions League next season.

“Next year we will play in Champions League and this is the challenge,” he said following Wednesday’s success.

“The best teams in the world are there and it will challenge us a lot. The Premier League is the most difficult league in the world. To be fighting top seven, top five, top four is something very difficult.

“Hopefully we can be close with teams like City and Arsenal. It’s a huge challenge we have in Premier League. Why? In the beginning we are not contenders for top seven. There are top seven teams.

“Top six, and Newcastle is the seventh. And we are trying to get there. To try to be consistent there. We are achieving it.”

It remains to be seen whether his actions will reflect the same sentiment. Quite rightly, though, Villa fans will be far too busy celebrating to think about such questions just yet.