Ruben Amorim Man Utd replacement theory emerges after major Aston Villa decision made

Former Aston Villa star Stan Collymore has speculated over Unai Emery being in the running to take over at Manchester United. Current Red Devils boss Ruben Amorim is feeling the heat after a dismal start to the season - the club's worst since the 1992/93 campaign.

Currently languishing in 11th place in the Premier League, United also suffered an embarrassing League Cup defeat at the hands of Grimsby Town. The club's rocky start follows a disappointing 15th place finish last season - their lowest in the Premier League era.

Adding insult to injury, they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final in May, meaning Old Trafford has no European football for the first time in over 10 years. With Amorim's position becoming increasingly precarious, it's no surprise that some of Europe's top managerial talent are being linked with the job.

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One such name is Villa's Emery, who was rumoured to be in the frame during Erik ten Hag's troubled tenure at United last year. Despite a slow start to the season with Villa, Emery's work in Birmingham has been widely lauded.

His potential departure from Villa Park seems more plausible following the exit of the club's President of Football Operations, Monchi, on Monday, as he and Emery have been closely associated. Now, Collymore has weighed in on the unexpected news from his old club.

"Monchi. Lots of social media with others in recruitment about how hard they worked (so do others, especially Brighton and Bournemouth) which struck a chord with Villans as the going was good," he said via X (Twitter).

"But I make it three resounding successes in the market (players who play for the first team, not jiggery pokery for PSR) in Tielemans, Rogers and Pau out of a 20+ incoming of players. That's average recruitment at best. Emery wanted him and this now raises the question as to whether Unai's tenure will now grind to an end of season halt (*fires starting pistol on speculation every week about United, etc etc etc) or whether Unai has agreed with my analysis, biffed off a great friend but "business is business" and a new shiny recruitment guy comes in with a better strike rate.

"Said on here a few weeks back that recruitment at a club like Villa has to be at 80+% success rate in order to compete so that's the task for the new person. I hope Emery strikes up a rapport with someone new and gets his mojo back, doubles down and commits to the long haul.

"He's not of our neck of the woods though, he'll have suitors in Spain, probably one or two big Italian clubs and should United be serious about change then they'll have a sniff too, why wouldn't they, they can offer almost unlimited resources to back up what Villa did last season with multiple seasons of serious cash support.

"The next 48 hours will tell everything. If he's bullish and wants to stay, you'll see it as he's a straight talker. If he doesn't look at the camera, fidgits with his ear and doesn't answer 'do you see your long term at Villa?' then the owners and new recruitment guy need to get a list together quickly in case he exits sooner or end of season. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. UP THE RECRUITMENTLESS VILLA."

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