Balagué describes the origins of the book with a simple line: “Books come to you.”
His publishers had asked him, as they always do, to look ahead two years and decide which story would matter most when the book was released. Emery, having just taken charge at Aston Villa and carrying the weight of unfinished business in the Premier League from his time at Arsenal, felt like a compelling choice.
“He was going to put everything he’s got into making this succeed,” Balagué said.
He had spoken to Emery more than any other manager in his career. Yet when he began peeling back the layers of Emery’s childhood, family and culture, he realised there was so much more to uncover. “I didn’t know Unai had such a deep story,” he says.
And he soon realised he wasn’t just uncovering one story, but two: the evolution of a manager and the revival of a club.
Aston Villa were undergoing their own transformation. Years of instability giving way to ambition, method, and a belief system built to challenge the Premier League’s established elite.
To understand Emery, Balagué knew he had to start where the story truly began.
He travelled to the Basque Country, to the village where Emery grew up and to the club his grandfather once played for – the same one Emery now owns, Real Unión.
“It’s a place of tradition,” Balagué says.“Home to one of the oldest languages in Europe, a place of respect. Respect for elders, for where you come from.”
He explains how Basque managers carry a sense of belonging to something larger.
“They’re surrounded by mountains. The earth is much bigger than them. They feel small, but part of a whole. And that translates into football. You go into a club knowing you’re a cog in a machine.”
This humility is the spine of Emery’s management.
There’s no bravado about him, no performative edge. “With him, what you see is what you get,” Balagué says.
That honesty connected with Villa fans instantly.
“He constantly refers to the fans,” Balagué adds. “And it’s not artificial. He needs the energy they give. This is a very energetic team, one that needs to be fed.”
Guillem has had a front-row seat to see the players evolve under Unai, so naturally, I had to ask which player he thinks has transformed the most under Emery.
Without hesitation, Guillem responds:
“Morgan Rogers.”
He goes on to list other names: “McGinn, Watkins, Martínez, Konsa. Each one’s improved, but Morgan’s development really stands out to me.”
Then we talk about Jhon Durán.
I ask Guillem if he thinks there’s a chance Durán could ever come back to Villa.
Guillem pauses, then says: “It wouldn’t surprise me. Unai puts in enormous personal investment. Players he’s had often return, like Iborra, Pau Torres and Álex Moreno. They know he understands them.”
When the conversation turns to Villa’s supporters, Balagué says: “There’s a deep depth of feeling.”
“Success and defeat are carried equally. It’s hard to change a mentality that’s based on success a long time ago and a lot of defeats from then to now.”
However, he is quick to point out: “The hunger for knowledge and understanding is undeniable.
People want to know: “Who is this guy? What does he do? Why is this working?”
That curiosity has made the book sell in the thousands.
In a season when the club reached the Champions League and celebrated 150 years of history, he captured the voices, tensions, pride, vulnerability and hope of a club stepping into a new era.
Rise of the Villans is not simply a book about Unai Emery. It is a study of leadership, culture, ambition, and the anatomy of a football club undergoing a profound transformation.
