[8] After the expiry of his contract, Emery was appointed as head coach of English club Arsenal in 2018, succeeding Arsène Wenger.

[19] Emery, a left-sided midfielder, was a youth graduate of Real Sociedad, but never really broke into the first team (aged 24 he appeared in five La Liga games, scoring against Albacete in an 8–1 home win).

[21] Emery suffered a serious knee injury while at Lorca in the 2004–05 season, and he was offered the vacant coach's position by the club president.

He immediately helped the club achieve promotion to the second division for the first time in its history,[12] as well as beating top-level side Málaga in the Copa del Rey.

Emery then moved to Almería in division two,[23] and again helped his squad overachieve: after guiding them to a first ever promotion in 2007,[24] the Andalusian side finished eighth in La Liga in 2007–08.

[26] In 2008–09, his first season with Los Che, Emery led them to a sixth-place finish, with subsequent qualification to the UEFA Europa League, in spite of the club's serious financial problems.

The team reached the Round of 32 in the UEFA Cup, losing on away goals after a 3–3 aggregate draw against Dynamo Kyiv, and the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, exiting against Sevilla.

After dropping down to Europa League (previously known as UEFA Cup), they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Atlético Madrid on away goals, and exited in the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey against Deportivo La Coruña, losing 4–3 on aggregate.

[41] On 28 June 2016, Emery signed a two-year deal, with the option of a third, to succeed Laurent Blanc at French quadruple-holders Paris Saint-Germain.

[43] Emery picked up his second honour with les Rouge-et-Bleu on 1 April 2017 with a 4–1 win over title rivals Monaco in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue.

[46] In the next Champions League season, PSG finished top of their group, in which Emery led them to a 3–0 win over Bayern Munich in the second match.

[49] On 28 April 2018, Emery announced his decision to leave the Parisian club at the end of the season with a year left on his contract.

[57] Arsenal then extended their unbeaten run to 22 games, including a 4–2 win over arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Emery's first North London derby.

[60] Emery yet again reached a Europa League final,[61] but was unsuccessful as Arsenal were beaten 4–1 by fellow English side Chelsea.

[63] In the 2019 summer transfer window, Emery broke Arsenal's previous club record by signing Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pépé.

[64] He also brought into the defence David Luiz from rivals Chelsea and Scotsman Kieran Tierney from Celtic, as well as midfielder Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid.

On 23 July 2020, Emery was announced as the new head coach of La Liga club Villarreal, succeeding Javier Calleja on a three-year deal.

[70] In May 2021, he led Villarreal to their first European final, after a 2–1 win on aggregate over his former club Arsenal in the semi-finals;[71] he was the first ex-Gunners boss to beat his former team since George Graham in 1999.

[72] On 26 May, Villarreal won the Europa League final against Manchester United in Gdańsk, 11–10 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, to give him his fourth and a record win in the competition.

Recipient of the award, Pep Guardiola, would also acknowledge Emery in his acceptance speech, along with the other nominees for each's "incredible job this season".

[95][96] Aston Villa signed Pau Torres from Villarreal for a reported £33m,[97] and Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for an undisclosed fee.

[103] Aston Villa won five of seven games in December 2023, including back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, which led to Emery being named Premier League Manager of the Month for the second time in his career.