Aston Villa View: Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens must back Unai Emery in January transfer window
Although Aston Villa have spent substantial sums of money since their promotion to the Premier League, the upcoming January transfer window will highlight if Villa’s billionaire owners have got cold feet.
Since promotion in 2019, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have spent £414million on players – though they did sell Jack Grealish for £100million – signalling their intent to make Villa Park a home of European football during their tenure at the club.
In the summer of 2019, they invested £138 million into Dean Smith’s newly promoted squad. The following year saw another £ 87million spent, before spending large portions of the £100million transfer fee from the Grealish sale in 2021.
Under Steven Gerrard, Sawiris and Edens invested a further £25million in January on Lucas Digne whilst also acquiring the services of Barcelona superstar Philippe Coutinho. [Transfermarkt]
Put it this way, there hasn’t been a shortage of investment in the first-team squad.
And although it can be argued that the West Midlands club are severely underperforming given the amount of money invested, Sawiris and Edens can’t stop now.
With Unai Emery now at the helm in the Villa Park dugout, they finally have an established world-class manager who has a proven track record in Ligue 1, La Liga and experience managing in the Premier League.
The Spaniard’s trophy cabinet really is an impressive display – including four Europa League trophies – and Sawiris and Edens must show their ambition to Emery otherwise his tenure at the club could be shorter than expected.
Villa’s squad is already brimming with talent, but cover in both full-back positions, a backup goalkeeper and a clinical forward are likely to be on the Spanish manager’s January shopping list.
Of course, for this to happen, the club must manufacture some outgoings as there are numerous players sitting on hefty contracts who aren’t even making it onto the Villa Park pitch.
The likes of Frederic Guilbert, Marvelous Nakamba and Robin Olsen must all be shipped on in order to pave the way for new incomings, while Philippe Coutinho’s future still remains poised on a knife’s edge.
Finding new homes for these players is a pre-requisite before being able to re-invest in the squad, but if the hierarchy is able to do so successfully, they must dig deep into their pockets and give Emery the necessary backing.
Villa currently sit on the cusp of the top 10 of the Premier League table, but more importantly only four points off Liverpool in sixth.
European football isn’t out of the equation just yet, but investment must come first.
In other news, Aston Villa: Matty Cash stunned by Danny Ings after quick start under Unai Emery.