Yahoo News Unai Emery plans Aston Villa squad audit ahead of ruthless summer transfer drive
Unai Emery has never left a player in doubt over where he stands. Since the first transfer window he was in charge of at Aston Villa, a window in which the club shed a host of fringe players, and following a flurry of long-term contract signed by key personnel - including Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Leon Bailey in recent times - there has never been a question over the role or involvement of each player in the squad.
If you're not part of the long-term plans - whether you're Aaron Ramsey, Morgan Sanson or Philippe Coutinho - then you're offered opportunities to go and play elsewhere, be it on loan or on a permanent basis. Emery knows who he wants to work with, but there are more complexities in modern football which clubs must overcome - particularly ambitious sides like Villa, who have plenty of money to spend but who mightn't be permitted to.
Ahead of next year's Champions League campaign, the Lions will clearly have to operate carefully and intelligently in the transfer window. They've parted with loanees Clement Lenglet and Nicolo Zaniolo, will welcome back Kosta Nedeljkovic and Cameron Archer and it's widely reported that Ross Barkley could be the first conventional signing of the summer on a free transfer.
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While the transfer cogs are beginning to turn slowly, Emery is conducting a squad audit on the players currently at his disposal and will decide on whether he sees a role for them next season, or if they might be a player who could be sacrificed and might instead make way during the summer transfer window.
Asked to confirm if Archer was returning before the defeat at Crystal Palace, Emery said: "Yes, at the beginning he's coming back. We are analysing [players] and we are going to meet with 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, director of football operations], 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."
Those quotes come at a time when reports are emerging concerning the futures of defender Diego Carlos and midfielder Jacob Ramsey; centre half Carlos, who arrived in 2022 but missed most of his first campaign because of injury, was a regular alongside Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres in the back-line last season but, currently on a considerable wage, he might be allowed to leave.
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Ramsey, meanwhile, has endured a luckless campaign having suffered a broken metatarsal while helping England under 21s win the Euros last summer; the midfielder has been quite brilliant since breaking into the first-team squad under Dean Smith, and Steven Gerrard and Emery have in turn been the beneficiaries of that ability, but Villa do have a recent track record of earning pure profit through selling their talented academy stars.
A few big weeks lie ahead for Emery and his team, and a host of decisions are due to be made, but history tells us - indeed even in the 18 months he has spent at Villa Park - that the Spaniard's judgement is excellent when it comes to making calls on personnel and whether they are indispensable or otherwise.
