Emery says Aston Villa and Chelsea are 'enemies' despite transfer dealings
Unai Emery said Aston Villa and Chelsea are "enemies" rather than friends, insisting the clubs want to "kill" each other despite a run of transfers between them, in comments published on 31 August 2026 as Villa prepared to host Arsenal at Villa Park.
Emiliano Martínez became the latest player to move between the clubs after Chelsea paid £117m this summer to sign Morgan Rogers from Villa, while Villa signed Nicolas Jackson in a deal worth up to £65m that could become the club’s record. Alejandro Garnacho moved to Villa from Chelsea on loan with a conditional obligation to buy, and Villa agreed a £7.5m deal for Martínez after the goalkeeper again expressed a desire to leave Villa Park. Austin MacPhee, the set-piece coach who was among a trio of Emery’s core staff to leave this summer, also joined Chelsea from Villa.
Emery dismissed suggestions of amicable relations between the clubs, saying: "Good relations? The relationship is only through the deals – for money, for other players," and adding: "They want to kill us. And we want to kill them … it is not a good relationship. Of course, because we have good players and we can as well sign players from them, but it’s not a good relationship, it’s a deal for money and a deal for players. And they will want to kill us. They are signing Morgan, they are signing Emiliano Martínez to kill us … I am happy for Emiliano Martínez, I am happy for Morgan Rogers and, of course, I know I am not happy for Chelsea."
Emery set the recent business in a wider pattern of exchanges between the clubs, noting that Villa signed Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea last year and paid £37.5m in 2024 to sign Ian Maatsen permanently from the London club. He also referenced players who moved the other way in previous seasons, saying Carney Chukwuemeka and Omari Kellyman left Villa for Chelsea in 2022 and 2024 respectively and are now with Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg.
On the pitch, Villa arrive at Monday’s home game against Arsenal after a 4-0 defeat at Brighton, and Emery said the squad must be rebuilt following several departures: "I know we must rebuild the team. We will need time. But we must compete on Monday. We needed to compete last Sunday in Brighton but we didn’t compete. We are working every day as fast as possible to be ready, everybody." He indicated Nicolas Jackson, Leon Goretzka and Zion Suzuki could make their debuts at Villa Park, and noted Goretzka won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2020.
Emery praised Arsenal and their manager Mikel Arteta, saying: "Arsenal are the favourites. Arsenal, looking at the team with Arteta there seven years in a row, are getting better and better and are investing more and more. They are getting bigger and bigger as a club with the players they can sign. Arteta is doing a fantastic job. Arsenal are the favourites to win the Premier League and to win the Champions League. I like watching them a lot." He contrasted Villa’s recent improvement with Chelsea’s failure to qualify for European competition last season and noted Villa will play in the Champions League for the second time in three seasons.
Emery said Villa’s preparations had been complicated by transfer activity and expressed relief that the window would soon close, adding: "It doesn’t make sense to finish the transfer window on 1 September, and maybe for some teams like us, it’s more difficult, because when they are coming, more changes than normal, of course we are struggling to build a team to compete at the beginning of the season," and: "This year again I am wishing to finish the transfer window on 1 September and close the squad with the players I want." He also noted the exits of Martínez and Ollie Watkins to Al-Hilal meant six members of the starting XI from Villa’s Europa League triumph in May had left the club this summer.
