View: Emi Buendia starting to find his feet at Aston Villa after consistent minutes under Unai Emery
It is safe to say Emi Buendia’s transfer to Aston Villa was long regarded as a poor piece of recruitment, but new manager Unai Emery has handed the playmaker a new lease of life.
When Villa sold Jack Grealish to Manchester City for £100million in the summer of 2021, Buendia was one of three attackers signed to plug the gap of goals and assists in Dean Smith’s side.
Considering he was a club-record transfer, the Argentine’s numbers simply haven’t lived up to his lofty price tag over the last 18 months. In his first season at Villa Park, Buendia scored just four goals from 35 appearances as Steven Gerrard struggled to decide between him and Philippe Coutinho in the playmaker role.
However, since Gerrard’s sacking, the attacking midfielder has upped his goal contributions, scoring twice and assisting twice more since the New Year. Goals in the 2-0 win against Spurs and the 2-1 victory over Leeds were a just reward for Emery’s faith in the player, and he seems to be moving from strength to strength in the Spaniard’s favoured 4-4-2 formation.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, The Athletic’s Dan Bardell admitted the consistent game time thrown Buendia’s way since Emery’s arrival has been one of the major factors for his dramatic turnaround in form.
He said: “I think it’s about having that rhythm of playing every week, whereas before, under Gerrard, he would come in for one game and then spend three on the bench after being dropped, and it is always difficult to get a run going when this is the case.
“You need that consistency of being selected, and Emery has given him that since coming in as manager.
“I thought in the first half against Leicester City it was the best I’ve seen him in a Villa shirt. He was really running things and was involved in everything good Villa did.
“He was obviously involved in the first goal by hitting the bar with that left foot shot, and it seemed like he was settled and finally enjoying his football again, as I don’t think he’s always enjoyed his football since he’s come into Villa.
“I have said previously that you want to see Buendia getting on the scoresheet and getting more assists, and fans are finally starting to see that now. As a creative player, that is ultimately what you will be judged on, so it is nice to see him moving those numbers up under Emery.”
Buendia’s return to the starting XI on a regular basis has kept fellow South American playmaker Coutinho on the bench for the most part, and he may well be shipped on in the summer in an attempt to trim down the first-team squad.
With significant spending expected at the end of the season, Buendia must continue to prove his worth to Emery in an attempt to ward off any more investment in his position.
Goals and assists are the major currency Emery will care about in the 26-year-old’s game, and it will be interesting to see if he can re-discover the numbers he used to produce for Norwich City at Carrow Road.
In other Aston Villa news, the club face competition from Barcelona to secure the signing of a striker at the end of the season.