.png)
3 hours ago
4
Last season was the greatest Aston Villa have enjoyed since they won the European Cup in 1982. They claimed their second European trophy by lifting the Europa League, but even without that would have secured Champions League qualification by finishing fourth in the Premier League.
Despite a miserable start during which they failed to win any of their first five league games, there was even a spell around Christmas when it looked as though Villa might be challengers for the title. The question after a season like that is always: where next?
The answer is probably less clear now than it was amid the delirium of Istanbul in May. A reasonable consideration, even a couple of weeks ago, would have been: was that a one-off high, the limit of the club’s ambitions, or was there more? The danger for any team, but particularly one relatively unfamiliar with success, is to rest on its laurels, to be too loyal to those who have brought the long-awaited silverware.
It’s an understandable enough impulse: any transfer comes with a risk, so why make changes when what was there before worked? Why offload players to whom there is a sense of gratitude? Villa have not rested on their laurels.
Three major players – Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa – have left, Emí Martínez seems likely to join them and Ollie Watkins might go as well. This is not a fire sale. Nor is it a club cashing in while it still can. But it probably wasn’t quite planned this way either. The exodus is a combination of accepting that certain players are ready to fly the nest and trying to make as much money from them as possible for a rejuvenation of the squad. The danger is that too much is being changed too quickly.
Those changes have not just been among the playing staff. Two physios and the head of the medical team went to Arsenal. Jaime Arias Galán, a technical assistant, has left. The individual development coach, Rodri, went to Como. Most significantly, Unai Emery’s assistant, Pako Ayestarán, departed, while the set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, went to Chelsea. There are always changes among backroom staff and the impact is hard for outsiders to assess but, still, the departures add to the sense of flux and uncertainty.
There is logic in the changes to playing personnel, though. Rogers is 24 and had been at the club for two and a half seasons. He scored 14 goals in all competitions in each of the past two seasons, many of them spectacular. He squeezed in the third goal in the Europa League final and will be remembered with great affection by Villa fans but he wanted to go for the better salary and perceived better opportunities (a risk, frankly) at Chelsea.
Once a player’s mind is set on leaving, there is rarely much point in standing in their way. An Alexander Isak at Newcastle situation helps nobody. Far better to accept the cash and reinvest it. For a player who cost £15m, a fee of £117m, less the 20% owed to Middlesbrough, represents excellent business.
Konsa is 28 but had two years left on his contract. A fee of £51m feels reasonable. Tielemans went after Manchester United triggered his £35m release clause. There was nothing Villa could have done but, given the Belgian is 29, they can at least console themselves that they’re selling a player they picked up on a free in summer 2023 for a reasonable price before any decline has begun. While no club enjoys losing high-class players, trading is a necessary part of squad development – and there is reason to be excited about Villa’s recruitment.
Johan Manzambi is a hugely gifted young attacking midfielder, Zion Suzuki is recognised as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in the world, João Gomes has already shown signs of the tenacity he can bring to the midfield and Matteo Ruggeri probably represents an upgrade on Lucas Digne at left-back. Alejandro Garnacho is a loan signing with potential. The Argentinian winger clearly has talent; the issue is releasing it consistently. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, reliable cover at right-back, has joined from relegated West Ham.
And all that with a net surplus of £160m, plus whatever they may get for Watkins should he leave. More signings will arrive. There is need of a defender to replace Konsa. Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson represents an obvious option to replace Watkins, given his capacity to exploit the space behind opposing defensive lines. The thought of him and Manzambi linking with Brian Madjo, the 17-year-old centre-forward who made such an impression in the Uefa Super Cup defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, is undeniably enticing.
after newsletter promotion
Another central midfielder looks essential, particularly after Amadou Onana tore his anterior cruciate ligament at the World Cup. There will probably be at least one and possible two more creative players, one to operate centrally and one in the left.
That means potentially seven or eight major arrivals over the summer, and that is a lot. It hasn’t always been easy for new signings to adapt themselves to Emery’s methods. The Spaniard has insisted there are “six or seven contenders” who are better equipped than Villa this season.
Managers habitually try to play down expectation and, given the changes, it’s understandable Emery should take that stance. It may even be accurate. But it’s also true that a lot of sides have undergone a lot of change this season – and Villa at least have retained the same manager.
It may even be that this is a necessary stage of development, of rejuvenation and of the accumulation of capital before a renewed assault on the heights. Certainly the shift from Profitability and Sustainability Rules to squad cost ratio should suit Villa. But in an ideal world, all three of Rogers, Konsa and Tielemans would not have gone in the same summer; to undergo this much change at once is an enormous risk.
It is, though, risk with a potential upside, whereas sitting back and relishing the memory of last season would have led inevitably to decline. One phase is ending, a new one beginning and, while it might go wrong, Emery 2.0 may, in time, be even better for Villa than the first version.
