Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has confirmed he is in talks with the Premier League club over a new contract.
Villa announced on Wednesday that they have held a meeting to discuss their long-term strategy beyond 2029, when Emery’s current contract is due to expire.
Emery has been linked with several other clubs, including this weekend’s opponents Manchester United.
But the Spaniard appears set to stay at Villa Park after being part of the discussions over the team’s future with chairman Nassef Sawiris.
“My ambition is to keep our consistency and how we are improving and building lots of things positively. It is a huge challenge,” Emery told reporters on Friday.
“They decided, speaking with us last year, to build a new stand to add more supporters at Villa Park. That is a clear step forward to get better.
“How we are increasing our budget each year, and revenue through our performance by playing in Europe and improving players, selling players, then buying young talented players, this is the process and ambition we should keep in the future.”
Emery revealed there will be further talks next week as Villa look to tie the former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain boss to the club for the foreseeable future.
“I had a good meeting with Nassef Sawiris, very good meeting, very positive. Let’s talk next week, trying to get everything we spoke about together,” he said.
“We were speaking about how we can set our project stronger with a deal, yes.”
Villa will be looking to extend their five-match unbeaten run in the league when they face struggling United on Sunday.
But Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground in recent years, with Villa losing each of their last six matches there.
“We did not win one match there in four years,” Emery said.
“They have not been consistent in the league, but they should recover it, but hopefully not against us.”