Aston Villa summer transfer signings rated – 4/10 Youri Tielemans may have regrets, 8/10 Moussa Diaby a hit already
Aston Villa have undergone a stunning upward trajectory under the management of Unai Emery in recent months, highlighted by their exciting upcoming Europa Conference League campaign in two weeks.
Before last season came to a close, the Villans picked up 15 wins from 25 games under the Spaniard finishing in seventh place in the Premier League table despite Emery possessing a rather depleted attacking weaponry.
In order for Aston Villa to take the next step for the 23/24 campaign, the club needed to show their ambition in the transfer market, filling in gaps in Emery’s squad with the necessary quality required to fire on all cylinders and that has been impressively shown following their summer additions.
Aston Villa spent just under £80m this summer on players with experienced and established quality to bolster the squad and here at Villa News, we provide ratings for each of Emery’s new additions.
Youri Tielemans – 4/10
A regular feature for Belgium on the international stage, picking up 60-odd caps since his debut in 2016, Tielemans has long been considered one of the most innovative and progressive midfielders in the Premier League.
The former Leicester City man arrived to much fanfare and expectation given his proven quality in the English top-flight and his signing was made even more impressive in the fact that it was a free deal after his contract expired at Leicester City at the end of June.
According to FBRef, Tielemans sat in the 86th percentile for progressive passes made by midfielders last season, averaging 6.95 per 90 minutes. This equated to a total of 181 progressive passes across the season, which was 33 more than Douglas Luiz, who topped the charts for Villa.
However, so far, the Belgian maestro has started just one game for his new club, coming in the 3-0 second-leg Europa Conference League qualifying win over Hibernian at Villa Park, a tie which was won already after their 5-0 first-leg triumph in Scotland.
That game didn’t pull up any trees for Tielemans to impress Emery to pick him on a regular basis in the near future as he lost possession of the ball a whopping 17 times [SofaScore] which was rather uncharacteristic given his controlled and risk-averse nature on the ball at times.
It’s still early days in Tielemans’ West Midlands future but given his proven quality and the fact he should really be playing at the highest level every week, it’s understandable for him to be having some form of regrets right now.
Plenty more to come though, with a long season ahead for Aston Villa.
Pau Torres – 5/10
Another player who is an established and experienced commodity but more so, amongst some of Europe’s elite having starred for Villarreal both in the Champions League and winning a Europa League medal with Emery.
Torres has long been touted as one of Europe’s best left-sided centre-backs because of his classy progressive passing, tremendous reading of the game and ability to match it with some of Europe’s best strikers.
Torres averaged 4.1 clearances, 1.7 aerial wins and 1.3 tackles per game last season in La Liga [WhoScored] proving a real rock at the heart of Villarreal’s defence, but he equally has an eye on making a positive impact driving forward from deep which Emery is trying to incorporate in the West Midlands.
The 26-year-old ranked in the 99th percentile for progressive carries and the 97th percentile for successful take-ons, showcasing his incredible class and qualities when playing out of the back, or even possessing the ability to evade high pressure from onrushing attackers.
His bedding in period at Villa Park had been remarkably cut short because of the injury to Tyrone Mings and given the two drubbings Villa have tasted in Mings’ absence against Newcastle and Liverpool, it’s safe to say Torres has so far struggled to grab the limelight without the England international.
Against the Reds, Torres picked up the second-worst average score of any player to start at Anfield on Sunday (3 September) at 6.2/10, lost possession of the ball 16 times, won just four of his total duels and completed just 70% of his passes [SofaScore] in a disappointing defensive showing which was certainly not helped by Diego Carlos’ first-half injury.
However, he has shown glimpses of his undeniable qualities which will only improve as time moves on.
Moussa Diaby – 8/10
Arguably the most eagerly anticipated Aston Villa acquisition, the most exciting and the most needed given Emery’s depleted attacking weaponry at the start of the summer.
Diaby certainly arrived as one of Europe’s most gifted and devastating forward talents after some stunning showings for former club Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga.
Last term, the 24-year-old was in inspired form for Bayer Leverkusen, emerging as one of the best in his position in the league, registering 14 goals and 11 assists from 48 appearances across all competitions, and Diaby is also a master of putting opportunities on a plate for his team-mates and successfully performed 143 shot-creating actions in 2022/23, as per FBRef.
The Frenchman is one of Europe’s most productive attacking young commodities, and it is easy to see why Aston Villa pushed hard for his signature because he has proven the club’s best signing so far with two goals and an assist already to his name in four Premier League appearances.
More crucially, Diaby has taken to the rigours of the English game like a duck to water, he’s an instant already proving an absolute menace for opposition defenders with his terrific understanding of space, direct running, threat in the final third and of course his frightening feet and pace.
When a list is drawn up at the end of the current campaign of who has been one of the Premier League’s best 2023 summer signings, expect Diaby to be amongst the top names on that list. He is so good and Aston Villa fans are again anticipating more to come both domestically and in Europe.
Nicolo Zaniolo – N/A
Another one of Aston Villa’s marquee acquisitions even if it was on a temporary basis but Zaniolo is another capture that arrives in Birmingham with giant expectations and anticipation.
To be frank, he was considered one of Europe’s best talents a few years ago but because of some unfortunate long injury layoffs, his career has somewhat stalled.
However, he enjoyed a decent renaissance at Galatasaray last season after only signing in January registering five goals from 10 Super Lig games.
Zaniolo, during his time with Roma, was named the Serie A Young Player of the Year for the 2018-19 campaign and earned his first call-up to the national team in 2018 and was earmarked as one of Europe’s most exciting attacking prospects.
Whether he can reach those exciting levels at Aston Villa again remains to be seen but if Emery is good at anything, it’s reviving the careers of players who have somewhat stalled which suggests Zaniolo is making the right move at this stage.
Zaniolo has only featured in two substitute appearances so far but certainly enjoyed a decent cameo against Liverpool.
As per SofaScore, Zaniolo completed six out of his eight passes, won three out of his five duels, was successful with his one dribble attempt, and made one key pass.
Moreover, the attacker made two tackles, one interception and one clearance, faring much better than his fellow Aston Villa substitutes Youri Tielemans and Jhon Duran in this regard.
If that short cameo against an elite side is anything to go by then Emery is certainly on track to re-establish Zaniolo’s name amongst the elite again, and that’s great news for the Villans.
Clement Lenglet – N/A
Lenglet may not have been the cream of the crop addition when he joined on deadline day but he comes to the West Midlands with plenty of experience, having made more than 350 career appearances, including 160 games for the Spanish side as well as playing 35 times for Tottenham on loan last season.
With Tyrone Mings facing a long spell on the sidelines, Lenglet’s signing made perfect sense with Emery a fan of the player and also a former teacher back in their days at Sevilla.
Having only just joined on deadline day, it’s too soon to give Lenglet a definitive rating but his qualities and experience will be hugely vital as Aston Villa face the gruelling prospect of playing Thursday and then on Sundays in a totally new territory for everyone associated with the club.
Lenglet is an established player when it comes to those kinds of demands and his experience in such a quick turnaround of games will be significant.
In other Aston Villa news, one Villa Park star may have already emptied his locker for good as new footage emerged this week.