London, Oct 25 (IANS): Aston Villa have named Unai Emery as their new head coach, replacing the sacked Steven Gerrard.

The club have paid Emery's six-million Euro release clause from Villareal, just 24 hours after Emery led the club to a 2-1 home win over Almeria on Sunday.

The Spanish club also confirmed the news with a communique in which they explained he had "decided unilaterally to rescind his connection to the club."

Emery led Villarreal to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League last season and he leaves with them seventh in the table with 18 points from 11 games, reports Xinhua. The Spaniard replaces Gerrard, who was sacked after a 3-0 defeat to Fulham last week, and returns to the Premier League where he previously had mixed fortunes at Arsenal.

Emery led Arsenal to the UEFA Europa League final in 2019 and a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, but he was sacked after a poor run at the start of the following season.

Without Gerrard in the dugout, Villa won 4-0 at home to Brentford on Sunday.

Marcelino Garcia Toral is the current favorite to coach Villarreal -- whom he coached between 2013-2016 - after leaving Athletic Bilbao last summer.