Prince William gives 'absolute gentleman' Unai Emery the royal seal of approval

Prince William hailed Aston Villa's 'absolute gentlemen' of a manager Unai Emery who he revealed has been a source of knowledge.

The future King took his place among the Villa faithful at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night as the Midlands club contested their first European Cup quarter-final in more than four decades.

Villa's return to the European elite has coincided with the appointment of four-time Europa League winner Emery, who took over the reins of the club when they were in danger of being relegated to the Championship.

Almost three years on and Villa are a remarkably different side and club, a transformation Prince William credits the Spaniard with masterminding. Ahead of Villa's clash against Paris Saint-Germain, Prince William hailed Emery and revealed what he discovered after watching the side in training.

'We are so lucky to have a manager of Unai's quality,' he told TNT Sports. 'He is an absolute gentleman, runs the club and looks after the players, he is such a tactician, I try and get some nuggets from him but he is very dialled in.

'I watched training once and he was moving players a centre meter left and right, that is a man who cares about the little details and it rubs off on the players, he injects a real sense of confidence.'

In addition to their exploits in the Champions League, Villa remain in the hunt to secure a top-five finish in the Premier League and they are also in the semi-final of the FA Cup.

Emery boasts a remarkable record in knockout European ties from his time with Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal, Villarreal and Villa.

The 53-year-old has contested 49 winner-takes-all ties in European competition and has come out on top in 40 of them, giving him a success rate of 81.6 per cent.

Villa enter their clash against the French champions as underdogs but they will take heart from their manager's terrific record and their improved form in the business-end of the season.