Yahoo News Cameron Archer return explained as Unai Emery reveals Aston Villa transfer plan
Unai Emery has confirmed Cameron Archer will return to Aston Villa following Sheffield United's relegation from the Premier League.
Villa are obligated to buy Archer back despite selling him for £18.5million last summer, meaning the Blades effectively paid a decent loan fee for the striker. Emery gave Archer the opportunity to impress in pre-season after he won the European U21 Championship with England back in July, featuring in all three of the club's Premier League Summer Series friendlies out in the USA.
He scored 11 goals in 20 Championship appearances for Middlesbrough last season following another successful spell in the second tier with Preston North End in 2022/23. The 22-year-old has scored four goals in 29 appearances for Sheffield United this term, including against Villa back in December, before Nicolo Zaniolo scored a 97th minute equaliser at the Holte End.
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Asked to confirm if Archer was returning, Emery said: "Yes at the beginning he's coming back. We are analysing [players] and we are going to meet with (owners) Nassef (Sawiris) and Wes Edens).
"We are going to try to individually analyse each situation and try to take the best decision with every player.
"When we finish the season completely on Sunday we are going to sit with the club, Monchi, Damian (Vidagany), with myself, with Wes Edens and we are going to take decisions. We haven't decided yet about each one, whether they will be with us in the future or not."
Villa are investing in their academy to produce players capable of playing in the first-team or to be sold on for 'pure profit'. The club's academy won the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time since 1985 on Wednesday night with a 9-0 victory over Racing Club Warwick at Villa Park.
"They are working with us every day in training," Emery said of the academy players. "They're working with us and they are as well playing with us sometimes. Some on debut with Omari (Kellyman), with Finn (Munroe), with Kaine (Kesler-Hayden) we have young players with potential.
"We are trying to help them, to support them, to make a plan with them to try to be closer of us even knowing how we are playing and how we are building the team. Even the under-21s are playing more or less similar to us. We are connecting always with the under 21s and we always have a lot of young players training with us."
