Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has reiterated that the club are looking to strengthen his squad, while our talented youngsters will get opportunities this season.
It’s been a difficult summer for the club as we’ve had to manage our expectations due to financial restraints put on by PSR and UEFA’s regulations, and so it’s been a quiet transfer window thus far with Marco Bizot and Evann Guessand arriving as our only notable new additions.
READ MORE: Injury blow for Villa ahead of Palace clash but key man returns in crucial boost
Further, we’ve seen a number of key players leave with Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey the latest to depart earlier this month, and so there are question marks over whether or not this squad is strong enough to compete across multiple fronts and continue to build on the progress we’ve made under Emery up to this point.
Reinforcements would certainly be helpful, and the Villa boss has heavily hinted that he expects to see new faces arrive in the final days of the transfer window, ahead of the deadline on Monday evening.
“We are busy and we are involved in it the last days, because we have to try to improve our squad,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “We have enough players to get a good result with those players and we have other young players, they are training with us every day, and I think they will be, in their development, important players for the future of Aston Villa.
“We need to try and switch some players, they left, like (Jacob) Ramsey and Leon Bailey. We need now to try to join some players in our squad, helping us with their performance they can give us, so quick.”
Speculation remains rife over the possible identities of those new signings, but there is a sense that Villa will do some late business in the next few days, and hopefully it makes a significant impact in terms of strengthening the current group and giving everyone a lift moving forward.
Further, the Villa boss also suggested that he will give our talented youngsters chances to play this season, having seen them impress over pre-season this past summer, and it will be fascinating to see how much they’re used and how their respective roles develop over the course of the campaign.
Despite selling a number of top talents from our Academy over the past two years, we continue to bring through top prospects, and there is real potential with George Hemmings and Triston Rowe in particular, who both hugely impressed in our summer friendlies.
Although Emery insists in his comments below that they will play matches, he’s right to also note that they need time to develop, but it’s undoubtedly hoped that we give them a chance and a path to establish themselves, before taking a decision on their future and how much their potential sales will boost our finances.
“But, of course, we have enough players in the squad, we have some young players, they are training with us, they are ready as well to help us,” he added. “Like George [Hemmings], Triston [Rowe], Jamal [Jimoh-Aloba] and Brad [Burrowes].
“Of course, they need time as well, to get progressively everything we will need for our demands, but they will play this year, matches, and of course, it’s our responsibility as well to try to support, help them, to get their development playing in Aston Villa.”
Want more Villa analysis? TalkVilla+ has now launched! Subscribe below for ad-free newsletters, exclusive articles and much more. The TalkVilla podcast is also now live, have a listen, and subscribe if you enjoy on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. UTV!
