With the Aston Villa squad now heading for the Premier League Summer Series in the USA, Unai Emery will continue to face key decisions this summer.
Villa will face Newcastle Utd, Fulham and Brentford over six days as our preparations for the new campaign ramp up, and as seen in the image below, our squad for the trip has now been officially confirmed.
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It is of course Emery’s first pre-season with the squad having joined midway through the last campaign, and given his meticulous nature and analytical style, he will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to work closely with the players for an extended period of time to perfect the things he wants to work on, and build on our progress last season.
There were some notable absentees from the squad with Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey continuing to recover from injury, while Tim Iroegbunam and Jhon Duran weren’t included.
It’s unclear at this stage if that ultimately indicates that they’ll be loaned out this season or if they have picked up knocks which have held them back at Bodymoor Heath, but we know who will be involved Stateside and it’s an important trip for a few individuals in particular.
It could be argued that the likes of Lucas Digne and Leander Dendoncker fall into this category too amid speculation over their respective futures, while youngsters such as Aaron Ramsey and Jaden Philogene have a big chance. However, there is a sense of knowing what may well happen in all of those situations, and so there are five players who emerge from the pack more so.
🚨✅ Villa squad for Summer Series confirmed…#avfc #UTV 🟣🔵 pic.twitter.com/RrOnqTysSb
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) July 19, 2023
Diego Carlos
This is more about the Brazilian centre-half proving something to himself. After sustaining a ruptured Achilles tendon in just his second Premier League game for us last season, he featured for just 25 minutes against Wolves in May in competitive action after his return to fitness.
Having been able to put in a solid shift against Walsall, his workload is about to increase significantly and he’ll likely feature prominently in at least one of our three upcoming friendlies.
With competition building following the arrival of Pau Torres, Carlos has to show his injury is well behind him now and he can return to the level that he displayed prior to his setback.
Philippe Coutinho
It was all smiles for the Brazilian playmaker as he made the squad travelling to the USA, but this feels like a big period for him and his Villa future.
Emery was disappointed that he couldn’t get more of a look at the 31-year-old in the back-end of last season, as he missed our last 15 games through injury issues.
Speculation has been rife over his future as well this summer, but his inclusion for the pre-season tour indicates that Emery still envisages Coutinho being part of his plans, and if he can get in top condition and show his quality on the pitch, he could yet have a key role for us in the upcoming campaign.
Morgan Sanson
The general consensus for a while has been that the Frenchman’s time with us is over. A loan spell at Strasbourg last season was productive, but many saw that as a foundation for him to get a move elsewhere.
And yet, here he still is. Emery spoke glowingly of Sanson back in January but conceded that he couldn’t guarantee him regular playing time, and after so much time spent on the sidelines, he needed to play consistently.
Having had that in the second half of last season, he’s seemingly returned with the right attitude this summer and featured against Walsall. Having now been included in the squad for the tour, is the Sanson comeback story gathering pace?
Cameron Archer
Having only taken nine days holiday after his exploits in the U21s European Championship, it was a delight to see Archer aboard the plane heading Stateside.
He’s proven he can score goals and make an impact out on loan and with England U21s, and at 21 years of age, he could be primed for a big opportunity at Villa this season.
If he can bag goals or at least put in strong performances to stake his claim in the next week, he could be the ideal understudy to Ollie Watkins this season. A lot arguably still hinges on how well he does in the next fortnight.
Leon Bailey
Speculation has been intense in terms of links to attacking players this summer, and while we’ve yet to land a target, that puts pressure on those currently in the group to deliver and solidify their place in the Villa squad.
It remains to be seen if Duran’s absence is linked to a possible loan stint elsewhere, but Bailey is arguably also at threat given the rumours that we’ll potentially look to bring in two attacking reinforcements.
Emery persisted with the 25-year-old last year, but he managed just two goals and two assists in 21 league appearances under the Spanish tactician. As we look to climb the standings again and compete for silverware this season, we’re going to need a lot more than that in the final third, and so Bailey needs a strong pre-season showing to prove he can be a top solution and to avoid falling down the pecking order, or at worst, move on.