With the January transfer window drawing to a close, Aston Villa have been active already this month, and Unai Emery could see more movement in the final few days.
Although we’ve had some struggles and setbacks having failed to entirely convince so far this season, we’re in a good position heading into the back-end of the campaign as we sit in eighth place in the Premier League table, remain in the hunt for the FA Cup and have the chance still to automatically qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League.
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While that looks good on paper, it’s about producing performances and results on the pitch now to ensure we kick on and compete at the top to achieve our objectives for this season, while continuing to make progress and build on what we’ve done so far under Emery’s stewardship.
That made reinforcements in January a key factor, and there’s been some savvy business from Villa so far this month, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.
Jaden Philogene was the first to leave after an underwhelming first half of the campaign where he struggled to express himself and play with the freedom and quality that convinced Emery and the club to bring him back last summer, and with a limited contribution at the level we’re trying to reach, the decision was ultimately made to sell him for a significant fee, reported by BBC Sport to be around £20m.
Naturally, there will be a risk of regret if he goes on to flourish at Ipswich Town, but Villa not only cleared space in the squad, but it created additional funds and a way of maintaining our PSR position, and it ultimately led to an upgrade through the signing of Donyell Malen.
Of course, the Dutchman will only be considered an upgrade if he makes a positive impact and contributes consistently in the coming months and years, but it certainly looks as though Monchi and the hierarchy have made a move to improve the squad, and so that was an important first piece of business.
Then followed the arrival of Andres Garcia from Levante, as Villa moved to address our concerns at right-back with Ezri Konsa often having to shift across to cover for Matty Cash, forcing him out of his more natural and effective role as a centre-half.
Garcia will need to adapt and develop his game to meet the demands of Emery’s style of play, but having been plucked from the second tier of Spanish football, we evidently believe in his talent and ability to be a good fit for what we’re building in this squad, and so it’s hoped that he goes on to thrive in this next chapter of his career.
In another move to continue to balance our books and give us flexibility to strengthen, Diego Carlos secured a move to Fenerbahce this week, ending his time stint with us after two-and-a-half years.
At 31 years of age, with his wages and just 18 months remaining on his contract and given he had been injury and error prone, it was another sensible move from Villa to continue to build a more sustainable model and to position ourselves to bring in another upgrade, and with the Athletic reporting that we received a fee of around €10m, that’s smart business.
In turn, the moves made by the club thus far have been astute ones which should benefit us in the long run, but that said, there is still a lot more to do before the deadline passes.
A replacement for Carlos to bolster our defensive options is an absolute priority as we’re light in that department currently, and so that has to be the minimum expectation next week.
Joe Gauci, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Lamare Bogarde, Emiliano Buendia and Jhon Duran have all been paired with an exit, so who leaves? And if they do, have Villa got targets ready so we can swoop immediately and fill those voids?
It’s going to be a fascinating end to the window with Emery confirming in his pre-match press conference on Friday that we’re continuing to assess our options on how to improve his squad, and so hopefully we end this month in a much stronger position compared to where we started it.
