Unai Emery has been dealt with a transfer conundrum that he must resolve in the closing weeks of the summer window.
It’s just under a week until Aston Villa kick off their Premier League campaign with a trip to West Ham on Saturday evening.
The Villans have overhauled their squad this summer with seven new players arriving while six have left, including star midfielder Douglas Luiz and explosive winger Moussa Diaby.
Unai Emery has addressed multiple areas of his squad as the likes of Ross Barkley, Enzo Barrenchea and Amadou Onana have provided depth in midfield while Ian Maatsen has offered competition for Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno at left-back.
But, that doesn’t mean Emery now has enough quality in his squad as concerns have been raised over their output in the final third, especially after scoring just three goals in their final four pre-season matches.
Aston Villa still need to replace Moussa Diaby as ‘worrying’ verdict emerges
Despite only arriving for a club-record fee of £52 million last summer, Diaby was shipped on to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad for around £50m in July.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a mixed first campaign at Villa Park, as while his performances divided opinion, he still registered 19 goal contributions in all competitions, which included 13 in the Premier League.
Selling the Frenchman alongside their midfield lynchpin Luiz was necessary to adhere to FFP regulations but according to Villa expert John Townley, the integral pair haven’t been properly replaced this summer.
Speaking on the Claret & Blue Podcast, Townley issued a ‘worrying’ verdict on the current Villa personnel, saying: “Yeah, I am worried because one is a key player [Douglas Luiz], the other [Moussa Diaby] still had 14 goal contributions is the question asked.
“But I’m worried because we haven’t replaced that in the squad in terms of Diaby; we’ve replaced him to an extent with Philogene but that’s because Bailey had no other competition there.
“Last year, it would have been Diaby if Bailey was injured. We are looking at a player, as we’ve seen with Felix, as a support act for Ollie Watkins.”
As Townley mentioned, Villa did sign Jaden Philogene from Hull City, who returned to the club after a year, but the 22-year-old has never played at the top level previously, unlike Diaby.
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Aston Villa must find Diaby replacement
Diaby offered Emery exceptional versatility last term, as the jet-heeled attacker could offer support for Leon Bailey down the right or play in behind Ollie Watkins.
Further, his ability to operate in multiple positions hasn’t been replaced in the window, with Philogene competent on both wings but not as a central figure.
That explains why Villa have been so keen to sign Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix but with the Portuguese international wanting to join Chelsea instead, they must now look elsewhere.
Including the goals and assists served up by Luiz last term, the Villans have lost 37 goal contributions between the Brazilian and Diaby, which is a lot to replace.
Philogene did produce 18 contributions for Hull in 2023/24 but as those returns were in the Championship, it’s difficult to assess how he’ll cope in the top flight and Champions League.
A telling few weeks could await at Villa, who need to find the correct replacements for Luiz and Diaby, otherwise, they could see a drop off from their fourth-place finish in 2024/25.
