In the week that Aston Villa confirmed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, they also sold their top scorer. Jhon Duran’s departure will be a disappointment to some. The challenge for Unai Emery is to ensure the changes make Villa stronger.
Dealing with the twin tests of the Premier League and Europe has been a theme of the season. They go to Wolves on Saturday after the high of that victory over Celtic on Wednesday knowing that they have not won after a European game since September.
But these past few weeks, in which Diego Carlos and Emiliano Buendia have also left the building, have included the added distraction of the transfer window. How is the man expected to manage all these moving parts coping with the myriad demands?
“Always, in football, it is a busy time,” Emery tells Sky Sports. “Even when you are resting, even when you are on holiday, always our minds are thinking something around football, around the squad, around the players, around the objectives we can face.”
Another constant topic of the campaign has been how to accommodate Duran alongside Ollie Watkins in the Villa team. It was a conundrum that Emery was never able to solve. Their last game together, for half an hour in Monaco, was not a success.
Speaking at the club’s training ground, as the screens playing Sky Sports News tell of interest in Joao Felix, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, Emery explains his plans for life post-Duran. Do not expect him to try to replace the Colombian striker like for like.
“We are in a new way,” he insists. “I am practising how we can play with Donyell Malen. The club is working [on players] to join us but, of course, now we have players in the squad ready to play, ready to be versatile as well and to play in different positions.”
Malen, a £21m signing from Borussia Dortmund, made his debut on the right wing off the bench against West Ham but Emery believes he can use him as a striker if needed. It is a better solution, perhaps. Players who can cover Watkins but also play with him.
“Ollie has always been consistent and usually he can play because he is a very strong player, physically as well, playing 90 minutes in a row of matches. But of course we have to have one plan B in case he is not available for 90 minutes or to play some matches.
“But we have players in the squad with this possibility. Donyell Malen and Morgan Rogers played as a striker. Of course, we are watching the transfer window’s last days, if we can sign a striker a striker with the possibility to be versatile in the attacking third.”
Versatility has been essential of late. Against West Ham, an injury to Tyrone Mings required Lucas Digne to play as a makeshift centre-back. Against Celtic, Boubacar Kamara played there with Matty Cash’s early exit forcing Lamare Bogarde to right-back.
“The players we have I am very proud of how they respond in different circumstances with the level we need to achieve. We drew at home to West Ham but we reacted very well against Celtic last Wednesday and the response was coming quick.
“The most important thing is that they respond not after but before, when we need them, how they are prepared to do it. This is what I am most proud of. I can feel the players are always open to help and to support every decision that I have to make.”
Getting more from players is what Emery does. It is worth reminding that nine of the starting line-up that beat Celtic were at the club when he arrived in October 2022, with Villa languishing in the bottom six of the Premier League table. He improves players.
He fixes them too, preferring to coax the best from a talent that had not been maximised than take someone with a lower ceiling. This is something Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, referenced when addressing the interest in Joao Felix and Asensio.
‘Recovering talents’
Putting Monchi’s comments to Emery, in which he called him the best at ‘recovering talents’, he replies: “We worked in Sevilla for four years together. He is speaking about two players, they are not playing in their club now consistently, Asensio and Joao Felix.”
“They are potential players, maybe we can add, but we have other players waiting on our list.” The same, of course, could be said of Rashford. “If some of them are coming, this is my challenge, try to get the best of them and try to be protagonists with them.
“But I am positive about the process, the demand we face with the players we have. As a team, we have John McGinn back from injury. Jacob Ramsey as well, hopefully we can get Ramsey the consistency for the next month like he did not have last year.
“Really, this is my motivation, how we can manage as well the player that we have and how we can manage as well the objective we have in front of us.” The next objective? Well, that is simple. Put Europe to the back of their minds and beat Wolves on Saturday.
“After playing in Europe, the motivation we have to play in the Premier League should be the same. We only need to rest, get good sleep, recover energy and then play. This is how we want to build our team, our mentality as players, as a team and as a club.
“Of course, you have to enjoy it as well. Playing different competitions, matches every few days. We are focusing on Wolves. It means a lot for the supporters. We will try to get our best performances collectively, individually, try to compete and try to win.
“Each match is a challenge. Now, the most important is against Wolves. My interest in winning is the same as the Champions League. Even more so in the Premier League because it is through the Premier League that we are going to achieve our objectives.”
Watch Wolves vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm