Unai Emery's £100m Aston Villa plan after summer transfer business

Ross Barkley is waiting for his first Premier League start under Unai Emery
-Credit: (Image: Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)


Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has promised each member of his squad will have a part to play across the season.

New signings Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley are yet to start a Premier League game this term, but both played from the off in the 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers in midweek having helped Villa change the game in last weekend's win over Wolves.

Villa have come back from behind in their previous two league games against Everton and Wolves, with Barkley proving key to both comebacks, while Maatsen played the full second half at Villa Park last Saturday. Jaden Philogene - who returned to Villa from Hull City in the summer - has been injured in recent weeks, while Emi Buendia is increasing his level after completing rehabilitation from an ACL injury last year.

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"The players have to be ready to play in whatever competition we are playing," Emery said. "Right now we are more or less repeating the same XI, but the season is going to be long and we are going to play a lot of matches. We are going to have injuries, like we do now with John McGinn and before with Jaden, with Cash - he is coming back next week as well.

"I think the players are evolving in our structure and understanding the process for the year, how it is coming. For example, Ross Barkley has been high impact but his adaptation is going well.

"He is not playing in the starting XI in Premier League matches but I believe in case he will play on Sunday or on Wednesday against Bayern Munich he is close to understanding everything tactically I want. In training sessions he is really performing well.

"Hopefully we can get our new players understanding our tactical idea. Kosta (Nedeljkovic) is another example. Hopefully we can get our new players understanding our tactical idea as soon as possible."

While summer signings Lewis Dobbin, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea are all out on loan, Emery has £100m worth of talent in the other additions of Maatsen, Barkley, Philogene and Amadou Onana, all of whom are continuing to adapt to Emery's tactical demands and structure.

Jhon Duran is another member of Emery's squad who wants to be starting more games as the season unfolds.

Speaking of the dynamic up front, Emery explained: "Tactically we can play with two strikers, sometimes with Watkins and Morgan like we are playing, feeling we have two players who can be close together in the box.

"We can manage to play properly with two strikers like Jhon Duran. Different tactical situations we can manage with versatility. With some players their versatility allows us to play different tactics."

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