While the expectation is that Aston Villa will bring in key reinforcements this summer, Unai Emery will also be itching to get influential individuals back from injury.
Villa enjoyed an impressive campaign this past season, finishing fourth in the Premier League to book our spot in the Champions League next season.
READ MORE: ‘See you all in pre-season’ – Injury boost for Villa as long-term absentee targets return
There was also a run to the last four of the Europa Conference League as we gained invaluable experience in European competition, and although there were early exits from the domestic cups, it was a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable first full season with Emery at the helm.
What made it all the more impressive was that it was done without a whole host of key players due to injury, as almost every member of the first-team squad was sidelined at some point over the course of the year.
The absences of Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey were particularly felt though, as that quartet missed a significant part of the season with long-term setbacks.
Admittedly, having been without the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers also hurt us, but thankfully those were largely short-term issues, and we’ll hope to have better luck on the injury front next season as a fully-fit squad is more than capable of building on our progress over the last 18 months.
Nevertheless, Mings will bring leadership, physicality and presence back to the defensive line on his return, and we’ve certainly missed those attributes without him as we’ve struggled at the back at times having conceded 61 goals in the league.
That gave us the joint-second worst defensive record of the top five sides in the standings, and so we have to improve in that phase of the game next season to be able to push on.
Losing Kamara in February certainly made that task harder, and unfortunately the French midfielder is likely to be behind the others in their recoveries and targeted comebacks having also suffered a serious knee injury.
Villa lost balance and control in midfield without him, while it also impacted Douglas Luiz’s performances and restricted Emery’s flexibility both tactically and with personnel. In turn, it’s imperative we get him back as soon as he’s ready to feature, while a new signing to add depth would make sense.
As for Ramsey and Buendia, we lost an important dynamic in the final third without them. Although we still set a club record with 76 goals scored in our 38 league outings, we’re capable of being even more prolific with them involved on a consistent basis.
With Buendia’s creativity and flair coupled with Ramsey’s pace, positional awareness and eye for goal, we’ll benefit greatly from having them both available again next season, and they’re certainly capable of complementing the other options already available to Emery.
Time will tell who Villa bring in as reinforcements this summer, but we’ll no doubt be significantly better just by getting our injured players back fully fit over the course of the summer.