Unai Emery would love Jacob Ramsey for Aston Villa now as Newcastle regret may grow

Aston Villa’s attack has gone off the boil in recent weeks.

Unai Emery‘s side haven’t scored more than one goal in a single game since their 3-2 win over Salzburg on 29 January, and that looks set to cost them dearly in the Premier League title race.

Aston Villa are now 10 points behind Arsenal, and are now looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack behind them, with Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool all on 45 points, six behind Villa in third.

The 1-1 draw against Leeds on Saturday was another example of Villa’s attacking frustrations at the minute, with the Villans dominating the possession, but just four of their 16 shots on goal were on target.

Aston Villa's current injury list.
Credit: Manh Tung – Breaking Media.

Jacob Ramsey is coming to life for Newcastle

One of the big reasons for Villa’s downturn in performances and results over the last few weeks has been the decline in attacking production from numerous key forward players.

Morgan Rogers hasn’t scored in any of his last three games in all competitions, Ollie Watkins has only found the net twice in 2026 so far, whilst Leon Bailey hasn’t provided a single goal contribution since his return to Villa Park this winter.

All of this is contributing to Villa’s cutting edge looking pretty blunt over the last few games, but one player who is sharp right now is Ramsey.

Jacob Ramsey's last two Premier League appearances for Newcastle United
Credit: Breaking Media

Villa sold Ramsey to Newcastle last August in a deal worth up to £43million with add-ons, in a transfer that was largely signed off on due to the move generating pure profit for PSR purposes due to him being a Villa academy graduate.

The 24-year-old did endure a challenging first few months on Tyneside, but he’s now starting to blossom into a key player in Eddie Howe’s side, especially in the attacking department.

Indeed, he’s grabbed a goal and an assist from his last two Premier League games, operating in a more central attacking midfield role as opposed to being played more as a winger during his time in the West Midlands.

Ramsey would surely be playing big role for Villa now

Emery is not only dealing with a number of misfiring attackers, he’s also having to contend with significant injury issues in his midfield department.

So, having Ramsey available to him right now would’ve been huge, as he would surely be in the starting XI for either one of out-of-form pair Emi Buendia or Bailey at this moment in time.

Rogers could be moved out wide to open up the number 10 role to Ramsey where he’s starting to shine for Newcastle in, and that in-turn may see Watkins receiving better service from which to score goals from.

Ramsey only appears to be trending upwards and towards a star player for the Magpies, and so although Villa received good money for him, having him at Villa Park right now could’ve been invaluable to Emery.

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