With Aston Villa expected to be busy this summer transfer window, Unai Emery will undoubtedly have clear ideas and plans on how to improve his current squad.
It’s been a quiet start to the off-season from a Villa perspective, but ultimately that isn’t expected to last much longer as Emery looks forward to his first real opportunity to bring in his priority reinforcements.
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Time will tell if the appointment of a new sporting or technical director speeds things up as of next week, but it will be interesting to see which areas of the squad Emery targets to strengthen, while much will likely also depend on any further outgoings and whether or not those returning from loan spells come back into contention.
Based on the current squad though, there are five clear positions where Villa can still improve as we look to progress further in the Premier League as well as compete for domestic and European silverware next season.
Back-up goalkeeper
After confirmation of Jed Steer’s departure, that leaves us with Robin Olsen and Viljami Sinisalo as our current first-team back-up goalkeepers, but given Steer spent all of last season out due to injury, the situation doesn’t exactly change.
Emiliano Martinez has shown great consistency and reliability since joining us and it’s hoped that continues moving forward, but it remains to be seen if Emery is happy with his two reserve shot-stoppers or if believes we can improve.
Despite conceding 14 goals in just six appearances last season, the Villa boss was always keen to protect and defend the Swedish international, but we could surely do with an upgrade in that role if a viable option is available.
Right-back
Matty Cash showed crucial improvement before and after his injury setback in the latter stages of the campaign, thus showing that he can adapt to Emery’s methods and demands tactically, and so that may have helped him keep his spot.
However, with the exit of Ashley Young and although the likes of Ezri Konsa and Calum Chambers can shift across and play that position, it’s surely an area in which Emery will want another natural option.
Furthermore, there could be question marks raised over Chambers’ future at the club, while there’s also the hope that Kaine Kesler Hayden can earn an opportunity to impress. In turn, it remains to be seen if the Villa boss feels he has enough or he needs to reinforce.
Centre-half
While Konsa and Tyrone Mings did an excellent job of re-establishing their partnership at the heart of the defence last season and gave us a solid foundation on which we could go out and win games, we don’t have enough competition and depth in that area.
Diego Carlos is now back from injury and that’s a huge boost for us as he’ll hopefully play a big role next season, but with just three senior centre-halves at his disposal, Emery will know that’s not enough if we want to compete on multiple fronts.
The next question though is do we go for a depth option or an elite target to add serious competition? If we want to strive for improvement and to aim high in the coming years, it’s surely the latter.
Midfield depth
Similarly in midfield, we saw John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey all establish themselves as pivotal figures in Emery’s plans and style of play.
We now have a balanced, tenacious, creative and technically sound midfield that can help us dominate games, but if we’re planning to play over 50 games next season and with injuries and suspensions in mind, we’ll need a lot more.
Leander Dendoncker showed he can play his part, Leon Bailey is highly-rated by Emery and we have the likes of Bertrand Traore and Philippe Coutinho available at the moment too. Further, we’ll wait to see what happens with the likes of Tim Iroegbunam and Morgan Sanson as they return from loan spells elsewhere, but new faces are expected, as are outgoings.
Watkins competition/support
Besides Jhon Duran, there wasn’t much of an alternative option to Ollie Watkins up top in the second half of last season, and so adding more firepower will no doubt be high on Villa’s shortlist.
Further, we need to add more quality and creativity in the final third to complement and compete with Emiliano Buendia, particularly given the limited impact of Coutinho and Traore as well as Bailey’s inconsistency.
Again, there could be exits for some of those named above this summer and so that makes it clearer we’ll bring in new signings, but that’s certainly an area in which we can be better.
Cameron Archer will return from his loan spell at Middlesbrough with the hope of having a chance, but our other young hopefuls and loanees will likely be moved on or loaned out again.
GK, RB as stated, x2 CB as we’re in Europe, at least one more midfielder and a winger and a striker. I’d say 8 incomings if we let Chambers go and maybe Traore. Maybe Archer on the bench? I’d like to see us bring in Harvey Barnes as he always scores against us. Pau Torres and Ghendouzi would also be great additions.