Unai Emery still wants more Aston Villa additions prior to Friday’s 11pm transfer deadline as he looks to make the final tweaks to his squad.
Aston Villa have already made seven signings this summer, with Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen perhaps the most high-profile of the lot.
This has not come without departures, though, as Unai Emery had little choice but to sanction the sale of Douglas Luiz to Juventus in June in order for the club to avoid a breach of Premier League spending rules.
Moussa Diaby has also left just a year after signing, with the £60 million offer received from Saudi Arabia deemed too good to turn down.
Of the summer arrivals, three have been central midfielders, three have been wingers and one has been a left-back, but there remain areas Emery wants to strengthen.
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Unai Emery wants Aston Villa to sign attacker this week but it won’t be Raheem Sterling
Of those three winger signings, one is Lewis Dobbin who has been sent on loan to West Brom for the season to continue his development.
Another is Samuel Iling-Junior who was signed from Juventus as part of the negations around Luiz’ sale but is now expected to return to Serie A on loan, whilst the third is Jaden Philogene who the club only sold to Hull City last summer.
Therefore, Emery feels further reinforcements are needed; especially as Diaby – who played in a second striker role – has left the club.
That is according to Charlotte Duncker of The Times, who explained during the publication’s summary of what each Premier League club wants ahead of the end of the transfer window: “Villa have already had a productive window, bringing in seven players to add strength in depth as they compete in the Champions League, and ideally they would like to add more this week.
“Having missed out on João Félix, another attacker is still on the wish list, but sources distanced the club from a move for Raheem Sterling.”
Aston Villa can be open-minded with attacking signing thanks to Jhon Duran U-turn
It looked for all the world as if the exit of striker Jhon Duran was inevitable this summer due largely to the unprofessional behaviour of the 20-year-old.
However, now that it appears Duran will be handed an increased role this campaign and after scoring the winner against West Ham, the Colombian looks likely to stay.
This means that Emery does not need to sign an out-and-out striker to compete with Ollie Watkins.
The early season form of Morgan Rogers playing in Diaby’s second striker role also means that Villa can be open-minded when it comes to the attacker they bring in, as they can look for a winger, attacking midfielder or second striker.
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This has been reflected by their reported targets so far, with Joao Felix and Raheem Sterling both capable of playing a multitude of attacking roles.
Emery will hope to add a player of real quality to his attacking options in the next few days and it will be intriguing to see who that may be.
