Head coach Unai Emery has stated that he wants to deliver silverware and European football during his time at Aston Villa.

The West Midlands outfit have appointed the Spaniard as their replacement for Steven Gerrard, who was sacked on October 20.

Gerrard was removed from his position due to Villa spending the majority of the campaign close to the Premier League relegation zone and criticism over the team's style of football.

Despite an indifferent spell with Arsenal earlier in his career, Emery has been provided with a second opportunity in England's top flight, a consequence of his success at Villarreal.

As well as winning the Europa League in 2021, the Yellow Submarine reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season before losing to Liverpool.

Addressing the media for the first time as Villa boss on Friday afternoon, Emery revealed that he had similar ambitions for Villa, who remain in 16th spot in the Premier League.

The 51-year-old told reporters: "My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa. It's my personal challenge at the beginning. My second dream, my objective will be to play in Europe.

"But now, we have to start thinking only to the next match because we not are in a good position in table. Each match is going to give us a lot of info from players. I want to test individual and collectively the players."

When asked to comment on his previous stint with the Gunners, Emery admitted that he hoped to benefit from his experiences at the Emirates Stadium.

Emery added: "I learned a lot. Overall, each team gave us some experiences playing against them when I was at Arsenal.

"As a coach, I am now 51 years old. I talk in Spanish and French. In the Premier League I played against a lot of teams in the world. English teams for me are the big challenge to play against. The Premier League now is maybe the first league in the world."

Emery also acknowledged that he is under no illusions of the size of the task at Villa, starting with Sunday's showdown with Manchester United.

Villa face United for the second time in the space of four days when they make the trip to Old Trafford for Thursday's encounter in the EFL Cup third round.

Emery will then take his squad to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton & Hove Albion, who currently sit six points ahead of Villa having played one fewer game. body check tags ::