Did Emery refuse the Saudi money for moral reasons... or because it will be a rocky ride?
AT Companies House yesterday, the end of Mike Ashley’s time at Newcastle United was officially recorded but we all know the new owners have been in charge for four weeks.
And so far, it has been amateur hour after amateur hour after amateur hour.
Looking beyond the oil-dollar signs, supporters, realistically, should have expected nothing better because the operation was taken over by characters with no experience of running a major Premier League football club.
That they had no managerial succession plan in place should not have been a surprise.
That they left a lame duck coach in charge for one last, predictably ill-fated, match should not have been a surprise.
That they botched the recruitment of a manager – who would probably have been a bad fit, anyway – should not have been a surprise.
But the refusal of Unai Emery to leave Spain for St James’ Park was still a telling moment. As he spoke about his loyalty to the Villarreal hierarchy, the reasons given by former Arsenal boss Emery were admirable.
And beyond those reasons, there was talk of his annoyance at the news of a possible move being leaked immediately ahead of a crucial Champions League game for his La Liga team, with whom he won last season’s Europa League. There were also suggestions a contract clause that included termination rights in the case of relegation was not to his liking.
But what if there was something else behind Emery’s decision to turn down a return to the Premier League?
After all, there must have been an attraction.
Much has been made of Newcastle’s position in the Premier League and it is true they are already in a perilous predicament. But Villarreal are hardly tearing up La Liga, having won just two of 11 league matches this season and sitting a mere three points above the relegation zone.
They only attract average home crowds of around 17,000 and certainly do not have Newcastle’s new-found spending power.
But what if there was something else?
What if Emery did not fancy being a public face of the Saudi Arabian regime?
Considering he was happy to work, essentially, for the Qatari regime while he was coach of Paris Saint-Germain, that seems hard to imagine.
But like it or not, believe it’s fair or not, this is different.
Unless you were born yesterday, it should be patently obvious that Newcastle United is now a club of the Saudi Arabian state – an oppressive state accused of many, many crimes against human rights, a state linked with the gruesome murder of a journalist. You could go on.
And the bottom line is that anyone joining the club will have to reconcile themselves with the fact they are implicitly condoning the actions of that country by taking Saudi money.
It has not stopped legions of sports people, from boxers to golfers, doing exactly that.
And it will not stop legions more doing the same. But it is different for a manager of an elite, modern football club. He is front of house.
There have never been as many media and commercial obligations.
The controversy over this takeover will not go away and the manager could be asked to field questions about the Saudi regime at any time.
Maybe, in the end, Emery did not think aligning himself with the Saudi regime was worth it.
Eddie Howe obviously thinks it is. Fair enough.
But if he thinks he is going to get any sort of easy ride, he is very, very much mistaken.