Unai Emery should reject Manchester United and continue with Aston Villa if he receives an offer to take charge at Old Trafford.

That’s the view of former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, who has warned Emery that the grass isn’t always greener amid speculation linking his fellow Spaniard with the United job.

There had been optimism amongst United’s fanbase after Michael Carrick was appointed on a full-time basis in the summer having led the Red Devils to an impressive third-place finish.

But just six months on and Carrick’s future has been plunged into doubt after what has been a wretched start to the new campaign, with United languishing down in 17th in the Premier League table – only two points better off than rock-bottom Sunderland.

A thrilling comeback victory over Roma in the Champions League brought the club’s miserable nine-match winless streak to a halt on Tuesday night, easing some of the pressure on Carrick.

However, United’s overall performance was bordering on diabolical for much of the first half and questions over Carrick’s position will intensify again should his side suffer a further setback at home to Villa this weekend.

Sunday’s contest has been billed as a potential managerial audition for Emery, the man in the opposition dugout, who has worked wonders across his four-year spell at Villa Park.

According to Benitez, though, Emery should think very carefully before leaving a club where he has universal ‘support’ to join a club where he may not be given the same backing.

Asked if his compatriot should jump ship if he received a call from United, Benitez told talkSPORT: ‘I had six years at Liverpool, three at Newcastle, six months at Chelsea and not so much at Everton.

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‘But I can tell you that if you’re at a club where they support you, they give you almost everything that you need, you can build something and Unai is already doing that.

‘So I think it is a time for him to continue doing that and later on see.

‘In a couple of years, if he cannot get what he wants, his aspirations or his targets, maybe he has to consider other things.

‘But to find now an owner, the fans, everybody loves you, and then they give you support, it’s quite difficult to find.’

Benitez thinks Emery does not get the credit he deserves in their native Spain despite the extraordinary success the 55-year-old has achieved with Sevilla, Villarreal and now Villa.

‘The reality is that in Spain we don’t praise our people. We’re used to praising people coming from abroad,’ he added.

‘So if you are building something then it’s, “Okay, fine”, and then you go abroad and win something and people consider you a legend.

‘It happens a lot in Spain, it’s one of our big problems in Spain.’

Speaking to Amazon Prime after United’s Champions League epic with Roma, Carrick took the opportunity to praise the character his players displayed to come back from two goals down and emerge victorious.

However, he was also keen to stress that the win would only mean something if they were able to back it up on a consistent basis, with games coming thick and fast over the winter period.

‘It’s one game so it depends on what happens next. We’ve got to capitalise on that, but the boys showed an awful lot in the second half.

‘This was right at that moment. It depends on what happens next. We’ve got to make the most of it, we’ve got to move forward, but I’m feeling a lot better about things.

‘It’s a win for us as a football club. To see the supporters go home happy is what we live for, to give them performances and nights like this so they can get back energised again.

‘As a team, we’ve shown a lot of character to weather what we’ve had to. You find out a lot about each other.

‘The players will find out things about me, I certainly do about them and their character, what it means to them and what they’re prepared to put in.’