When Bayern Munich were assessing the contenders to be their new coach earlier this year, the decision-makers’ minds drifted to the spring of 2022 and their shock elimination from the Champions League.
Unai Emery masterminded one of the competition’s most surprising results of recent times as he led Villarreal past Bayern and into the semi-finals.
From that moment, Bayern executives have kept a close eye on Emery and when they decided Thomas Tuchel was no longer their man towards the end of last season, they gave more than a passing thought towards hiring Emery.