Aston Villa are looking to bolster their squad in this transfer window but they also want to tie their current crop of stars down to new deals.
In football, the importance of planning shouldn’t be understated and the managers who carry out this procedure normally have the most success.
Since he arrived at Villa Park in November 2022, Unai Emery has shown a key eye on the future, both on and off the pitch.
While his transfers have been ambitious, he’s also been able to vastly improve the clubs entire fortunes and supporters are now left pinching themselves.
From fighting relegation when he took the job to now challenging for the Premier League title, Emery has shown what can be achieved in just over a year.
A large part of this success has been down to how he’s transformed a number of his players.
Whilst Ollie Watkins is now a fully-fledged goal machine, Douglas Luiz is Villa’s midfield linchpin and Leon Bailey has gone from zero to hero.
The Jamaican has been in exceptional form this term, scoring six goals and assisting five in the top flight.
As a result, it was revealed yesterday that Villa now look set to offer him a new deal to keep him at the club.
With only 12 months left on his current contract, there was a risk that he could depart but this news will be music to the ears of supporters.
On the other end of the spectrum, Bailey receiving a contract is a further blow to Nicolo Zaniolo.
Bailey’s contract extension is bad news for Nicolo Zaniolo
Despite scoring the late equaliser in the draw against Sheffield United, Zaniolo has largely struggled since arriving on loan from Galatasaray.
The Italian has played in numerous positions across the front, including as a left winger, attacking midfielder and on the right.
With only one goal to his name in 13 appearances, the 24-year-old isn’t delivering the impact in the final third that Emery would have desired having once been hailed as “fantastic” by Fabrizio Romano.
Now, the news of Bailey receiving a contract extension is a further blow to his game time at Villa Park.
At the start of the season, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to many if the Jamaican departed, but now he’s one of the most crucial figures in Emery’s setup.
Given his importance, Zaniolo is going to find it even harder to break into the side.
Bailey is nailed on to start down the right in most matches, Jacob Ramsey has been used on the left in recent weeks and Watkins is undroppable up top.
That leaves the Italian scraping minutes from the bench and considering he’s only on loan, Villa may well decide against making his move permanent.
