Jonty Banks

Wed 1 February 2023 16:00, UK

Aston Villa were frustrated in their attempts to add quality additions to Unai Emery’s first-team squad last month as they were dealt the harsh realities of the January transfer window.

The only moves that Villa made on transfer deadline day were to recall Bertrand Traore from his loan spell at Istanbul Basaksehir and help Marvellous Nakamba pack his bags and hop on the road to confirm a loan move to Championship side Luton Town.

The lack of transfer activity wasn’t through the club’s lack of trying mind.

The likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Nico Williams and Hosseum Aouar were all linked with moves to Villa Park, but those deals either proved too expensive or too complicated to pull off mid-season.

In the end, talented Colombian teenager Jhon Duran was snapped up in front of the noses of Liverpool and Benfica to bolster Emery’s attacking ranks, while left-back Alex Moreno was signed for a fee of £12million.

Given some of the transfer blunders past winter windows, including the infamous 2020 quartet of Danny Drinkwater, Borja Baston, Pepe Reina and Ally Samatta, it is definitely the correct choice to hold fire, do their due diligence and look to spend big in the summer.

Such sporadic transfer spending has accumulated to over £400million since the club’s promotion to the Premier League in 2019, and lessons must be learnt from Steven Gerrard’s first transfer window in charge this time last year.

After arriving as manager, Christian Purslow offered the Englishman Villa’s full purse, signing Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne and Callum Chambers in his first window at the helm. However, 12 months on, all of these players now face uncertain futures, and this highlights the need to assess your first-team squad before spending the big bucks.

Emery has obviously taken this fact into account in the last month and knows that he must trim down his bloated squad before bringing in the marquee signings that will steal the headlines.

Frederic Guilbert was sold to Strasbourg, while midfield duo Morgan Sanson and Marvelous Nakamba were also sent out on loans. Ludwig Augustinsson’s loan spell was cut short following the permanent arrival of Moreno, while Jan Bednarek was also sent back to Southampton after making just one league start all season long.

A host of academy talents were also warranted stints in the football league, including Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey at Middlesbrough, Louie Barry at Salford City and Lamare Bogarde at Bristol Rovers.

Most notably of all, however, Emery gave the green light to allow the permanent exit of Danny Ings to Premier League rivals West Ham for a fee of £15million.

Although the 30-year-old was Aston Villa’s top scorer in all competitions this season with seven goals, his age and unpredictable injury record have left him on the Bodymoor Heath medical table more often than not.

And although it has left Villa extremely short-staffed of personnel in the attacking third – with Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and Duran the only out-and-out attackers in Emery’s first-team squad – it is refreshing to see a manager with a clear vision of what he wants his team to look like.

The signing of Duran could prove to be an exciting one in the coming years, with the Colombian international a tall, strong striker who has bags of potential. At just 19, Duran has plenty of scope for improvement with Emery’s guidance but probably won’t feature too much this season as he acclimatises to the Premier League’s ferocious nature.

After opting out of signing a winger as it became apparent the club’s target were simply too expensive, Traore’s return from Istanbul Basaksehir will add some depth in wide areas before Emery looks to sign a top forward in the summer transfer window.

It is notable that Aston Villa’s transfer activity this January has mirrored that of Mikel Arteta and Arsenal in January 2021.

After inheriting a squad full of ageing and unsuitable players to his needs, the Gunners boss cut the deadwood from his squad, including a proven goalscorer in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and the likes of Sead Kolasinac and Chambers.

In total, Arteta sanctioned the exits of 13 players in that winter window and signed just one player: Colorado Rapids defender Auston Trusty.

At face value, it looks like Aston Villa’s January transfer window was a sporadic, unsuccessful search for some of Europe’s brightest talents, but dig a little deeper and you may well recognise this is the first step in Emery’s long-term plan for the club.

In other Aston Villa news, a flurry of late loan exits in January highlights an academy that is brimming with talent.