Aston Villa season preview: Can Unai Emery work magic again?

There was a feeling at Villa Park last season that they were having a party where they weren’t invited to qualify for the Champions League.

Villa gatecrashed into the top five for the second time in three seasons, finishing fourth to comfortably enter club football’s elite competition for 2026-27.

Emery achieved this in November 2022 after inheriting a squad 14th in the table, three points above the relegation zone.

Despite having to sell, Villa’s revival has taken place, for example with the signing of Jacob Ramsey Newcastle £40m last summer, to ensure compliance with financial rules.

Uefa’s squad cost ratio shows clubs spend up to 70% of their revenue on transfers, wages and agent fees. These financial shackles have long been a source of frustration for Villa.

Selling Rodgers would have been the easiest way to comply but it means spending big to replace the England forward as well as Tielemans and Digne is unlikely without more significant departures.

Fringe players will leave though. Hull are interested in Leon Bailey but could be an early loan with the Tigers own funding, while Ivan Gessand could also leave. But Tammy Abraham is happy at Villa Park and doesn’t want to leave.

Villa would have preferred to keep Tielemans but could not afford to renegotiate his contract, which had two years left on it. United have triggered his £35m release clause.

That’s at least pure profit on the books after his free transfer from Leicester City arrives in 2023.

With Tielemans and Rodgers gone and Digne set to follow, Villa have lost 489 Premier League appearances from the squad – plus two of the players who scored in a Europa League final.