Aston Villa to kickstart Unai Emery era with blockbuster double transfer for Man Utd and Chelsea targets
Aston Villa are being tipped to sign two valuable players ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea following Unai Emery’s arrival in the West Midlands.
Aston Villa sacked Steven Gerrard on Thursday amid the club’s poor run of form. They had won just two of their 11 Premier League matches, and the 3-0 loss to Fulham at Craven Cottage proved to be the decisive blow.
Aston Villa soon began looking for Gerrard’s replacement. They were originally hoping to lure Mauricio Pochettino back to the Premier League.
However, the former Tottenham boss had reservations about the quality of the Villa squad. Ultimately, that pursuit was too ambitious.
Instead, the Villans went after a former Arsenal manager in Emery. And the 50-year-old impressed during talks with senior club officials, leading to his appointment on Monday night.
Emery will take over at Villa Park on November 1, once work permit formalities are sorted. His contract at Villarreal was due to run out at the end of the season and Villa pounced by reportedly paying a £5million buy-out fee.
In a club statement, Villa said they were ‘delighted to announce the appointment’ of Emery as their new head coach.
They labelled him a ‘highly-experienced top level coach’ and pointed out his success at Villarreal, Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla. His spells at those clubs went better than his time at Arsenal, where he failed to build on Arsene Wenger’s success.
Villa fans will now be looking to see who the club might sign in January and next summer now Emery is at the helm.
He has contacts at Arsenal, PSG and in La Liga, which could help the West Midlands outfit pull off some impressive signings.
Aston Villa plot double swoop thanks to Unai Emery
And that is exactly what they are planning, according to the Birmingham Mail. They claim Villa will look to raid Emery’s former club Villarreal for Dutch attacker Arnaut Danjuma.
The centre-forward, who can also play at left wing, recently became a target for Chelsea, Newcastle and AC Milan.
But Villa are the latest side to join the mix for his signature. They hope his good relationship with Emery will tempt him back to England, where he has previously featured at Bournemouth.
Danjuma has reached new heights since swapping the Cherries for Villarreal in August 2021. He has registered an impressive 19 goals in 43 matches for the Yellow Submarine. Plus, he scored six times on their route to the Champions League semi-finals last term.
Danjuma’s potential arrival at Villa would be an exciting one given his exploits in La Liga and in the Champions League. The Birmingham Mail claim ‘the stage is set for Danjuma to flourish at Villa’.
Villans want second La Liga man
Danjuma isn’t the only Villarreal ace Emery could look to reunite with. The report brings up the possibility of Villa landing Spain international centre-back Pau Torres.
He is a long-term target of Manchester United’s. And according to reports in Spain, Erik ten Hag wants to sign Torres next year to bolster his defence.
However, Man Utd will have to fight Villa for the 25-year-old. That’s because Emery rates him highly and will surely suggest his signing to the Villa hierarchy.
Torres has previously stated he will not leave boyhood club Villarreal in the near future. He wants to take them to as much success as possible. But Emery’s move to Villa, and the subsequent problems this may cause, could just see him switch to Villa Park in summer 2023.
The signings of Danjuma and Torres would be extremely ambitious from Villa. These are two players who regularly play in European competition. They have the ability to shine at a bigger club than Villarreal, too.
Moving to Villa may be seen as a step down for them initially. But the Premier League club will be aiming to finish as high as possible under Emery. And signing players like Danjuma and Torres will be a great way of ensuring success.
