Lucas Digne now faces fight to cement position at Aston Villa as Alex Moreno injury boost emerges
Aston Villa star Lucas Digne has proven a critical performance for Unai Emery in recent weeks after several rumours he was set to leave Villa Park but one Alex Moreno update means he faces a new fight at Villa Park.
Spanish journalist Matteo Moretto, reported on his personal Twitter account reported on Monday 14 August, that the Villans showed an interest in Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna as Emery desperately looked to bolster his ranks at left-back.
The interest in the Argentinian World Cup winner came as result of Digne attracting attention from his native country and in Saudi Arabia with OGC Nice (RMC Sport, 22 August) and Al-Hilal (Daily Mail, 3 August) respectively making their intentions known to sign him.
In fact, there were plans for Emery to utilise new defensive signing Pau Torres at left-back had Digne departed Villa Park due to the Moreno injury blow suffered in the last month of the Premier League season.
That decision will have been justified after underwhelming performances since his move from Everton in January 2022.
Since arriving at Villa Park, Emery has often tasked his left-back with venturing into the final third on a regular basis, offering plenty of width and attacking vigour, while his right-back, often the departed Ashley Young, was made to sit back and tuck into a narrow defensive position.
Digne had proven pretty shy in that sense, as the stats showed, he was averaging just 0.1 dribbles per game at a dreadful rate of 21% [SofaScore], also underperforming his 1.92 expected assists and creating just two big chances throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
Those are worrying numbers for such an experienced international player, and such stats meant Digne may not have the required quality to trump the injured Alex Moreno in the long term, who impressed since his 2023 winter move from Real Betis.
Unai Emery revealed that the Spaniard would be out for “two to three months” and likely to return around the beginning of the season [BBC Sport, 26 May], which meant September at the latest.
However, that time has certainly now come with Moreno, according to Birmingham Live, reporting on 11 September that the Spaniard could now be available for selection against Crystal Palace on Saturday 16 September in a crucial boost for Aston Villa and Emery.
But it’s a boost which could spur on Digne to raise his game once more.
The Frenchman had been fighting to impress Emery during the early stages of the season, but now that Moreno is back and ready for action again and to claim back his left-back spot, the former Everton defender certainly now faces a new fight on his hands to cement himself as Emery’s favoured choice at left-back and the stats so far this season mean Digne could have the upper hand.
His three assists in the 5-0 trouncing of Scottish side Hibernian in the Europa Conference League qualifying first-leg tie (24 August) led Emery to admit that Digne was a vital part of his plans, following the various exit rumours in the closing days of the summer window.
Speaking to Birmingham World on 31 August, the Spaniard said: “I’m very, very happy with him. I think he’s very important for the squad and I can tell you he’s going to be with us.”
Before the Liverpool defeat ahead of the international break, Digne recorded an impressive one goal and five assists and his 89th percentile ranking of crosses into the penalty area of and 85th key pass percentile ranking among full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year [FBRef] certainly indicate a player who is improving vastly.
Digne is considerably usurping those torrid numbers from last season in just five games already, averaging around 3 key passes per game, but also excelling in his defensive numbers, averaging 1.3 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, 4.3 balls recovered and winning 60% of his total duels [SofaScore].
The Frenchman has always had a reputation for his sublime crosses from the left-flank but that took a huge hit during the opening year of his Villa career, now that reputation has returned in flying colours now accurately completing almost 20% of his crosses at a rate of 1.3 per game [SofaScore].
With Moreno now back in action, according to the latest injury report, Digne now faces the threat of losing his position if he isn’t careful but that competition could prove a blessing in disguise for Villa and Emery in what will be a testing few months ahead.
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