Unai Emery extended a 'warm welcome' to Newcastle United's owners before the Aston Villa boss came up against the side he turned down on Saturday.
Newcastle's hierarchy initially plumped for Emery ahead of Howe because of the Spaniard's track record after the pair were interviewed for the manager's job following Steve Bruce's exit in 2021. However, Emery, who was managing Villarreal at the time, was spooked by the news leaking out on the day of the Yellow Submarines' crucial Champions League game against Young Boys and had second thoughts.
The deal had been so advanced that Simon Smith previously revealed to ChronicleLive that 'people were telling me that it was going to be Unai Emery', leaving the club's former head of goalkeeping 'sitting at home waiting to be sacked' because he expected the 51-year-old to bring in his own man. However, Newcastle ended up appointing Howe instead after Emery rejected the Magpies.
