The former Arsenal boss confirmed that he had been approached by the Premier League club, who made him their first choice to replace Steve Bruce.
In a social media post yesterday, Emery described Villarreal as his home.
Emery thanked Villarreal president, Fernando Roig and his family for their support, saying no matter how much noise there was yesterday in another country, within the club there was transparency and loyalty with the ROIG family and with his squad.
Newcastle had hoped to have the Spaniard in place by the weekend.
