Unai Emery wants Aston Villa to be title challengers in the Premier League next season.
Aston Villa will compete in the Champions League next season after securing a top-four finish in the Premier League, securing a return to UEFA’s top club competition for the first time since 1983.
Emery’s side have confirmed their highest finish in a Premier League season since 1995/96 and enjoyed a strong run in Europe, reaching the Europa Conference League semi-finals.
The Spaniard has been delighted with the progress of his team, that included wins over title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal, and hopes his side can elevate themselves into a position to challenge those teams next season.
“It is a dream. It is very difficult. When we were at the beginning of the season playing two matches against City and Arsenal, we won both matches. We were there. Those teams are amazing with consistency,” he said at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Crystal Palace this weekend.
“I want to get better and I have my dreams and I believe in my dreams. Of course my objectives is to win the Premier League or the Champions League. We are not contenders, but it is our dream to get something like that in the league in the Champions League.
“When I arrived here, my conversations with Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens were about winning trophies and getting Europe. To get there you have to be competitive. Even if we don’t have the budget, we have to be intelligent and clinical in our decisions. This is still my objective. We are in the Champions League and we want to keep it. It is our challenge.”
Villa’s top-four finish was confirmed after Tottenham lost to Manchester City on Wednesday and the club’s players watched the game together, at Villa’s end-of-season awards night.
“Of course we played on Monday and our goal was to beat Liverpool and we didn’t beat them.
“It was not a party watching the game and waiting, no. It was the awards of the club for players with supporters and of course we were watching [the] TV. I didn’t want [to watch] because I prefer not to but it was there.
“It really was amazing when the match finished. At the beginning of the season it was a dream, really a dream. Of course we worked hard to try to be there.”
