Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed that the club is working on new signings in January as he expects to welcome in reinforcements.
After a horrible start to the campaign, Villa have produced an exceptional recovery which has seen us win 11 consecutive games across all competitions, putting us in third place in both the Premier League and Europa League standings.
While talk of being title contenders feels very premature with so much of the season still ahead, we’ve put ourselves in a great position to qualify for the Champions League, and so it’s crucial that we strengthen next month where possible to help us in the second half of the season.
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Villa have been consistently hampered by financial regulations and restrictions in recent years, and although we still face that issue moving forward, Emery has revealed that there will be an opportunity to improve his squad in January, and that there could be both incomings and outgoings.
“We are alert,” he said, as quoted by The Express and Star. “The club is working and if we can sign someone to help us and improve on something we need, we will do it.
“With the players we have, it is enough to compete because we are showing it the first four months. But for the second half of the season, with the same players, of course we can improve.”
“We can sign players, only we can’t spend a lot. But we can do something, of course.
“Maybe as well changing someone. Last year we signed four players in January and let others leave. We are in the same situation now.
“Of course, how we are competing in the Europa League, we want to try to be a protagonist and hopefully a way for a trophy now. In the Premier League, two months ago, we couldn’t speak like we are now as we were in a different situation.”
It’s felt that reaching an agreement to either alter or cut short Harvey Elliott’s deal will be a priority given Emery’s apparent reluctance to play him in recent months and edge closer to triggering an obligation to sign him outright once he has made 10 appearances for us.
Beyond that, time will tell who emerges as possible candidates to move on and make space in the squad for new arrivals, while Gremio winger Alysson has been the main transfer target linked with us thus far.
Full focus will be on Arsenal in our final game of 2025 on Tuesday night, and while Emery will then immediately set his sights on Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the club’s hierarchy will be working tirelessly on providing him with options to strengthen the group.