Emery set to extend Villa stay as he vows to keep “improving” the club’s ambitious project

Unai Emery has confirmed that he is close to signing a new contract at Aston Villa.

Emery held talks with the club's owners this week to discuss a contract extension at Villa Park. Aston Villa want to reward the Spaniard for his transformation of the club and extend a deal that expires in 2029.

Emery has overhauled Aston Villa since his arrival from Villarreal in 2022. Across the last four years, Villa have evolved from Premier League strugglers to European regulars and trophy winners. Villa have twice qualified for the Champions League under Emery, who ended the club's 30-year wait for a major honour with Europa League success last season.

The 55-year-old is excited about what can still be achieved at Villa, after positive talks with the club's leading figures. Villa are keen to finalise a new contract, amid reported interest in Emery from Manchester United, who The Villans face in the Premier League this weekend.

"My ambitions is to keep the consistency and how we are improving, how we are building a lot of things positively," Emery said at his pre-match press conference.

"We are strong, being strong, keeping consistency in our process, so it's a huge challenge but the club is involved in it.

"They decided last year to build a new stand adding more supporters in Villa Park. This is one step forward to get better.

"I had a very good meeting with [club owner] Nassef Sawiris. A very good meeting, very positive, so let's talk next week to try and get everything we spoke together in a [new] deal."

Aston Villa will aim to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League, when Emery's side travel to Manchester United.

Villa were punished for mistakes as they tried to play from the back in Catalonia and Emery is keen to eradicate his side's errors.

"We are making a lot of mistakes, not only in build-up. We have one opportunity, one chance to score and we are not scoring, it is the same mistake for me.

"The first objective is to feel comfortable doing everything in the pitch, so some mistakes are part of our process, our football, our idea.

"We made the same mistake like that before with different players, maybe 10 times in four years and we always overcame it.

"Now hopefully, individually [and] collectively we must get forward, move on and try to correct working and improving and trying to avoid mistakes like we made."