Unai Emery has Steven Gerrard to blame for complications in one Aston Villa transfer saga this summer.
The 2024/25 Premier League season is less than two weeks away, limiting Unai Emery’s time to prepare his Aston Villa squad.
After the horrors of Villa’s pre-season tour of the United States, the boss will be eager to right the squad’s wrongs, which could involve dipping back into the transfer market.
Aside from possible additions, Emery has the issue of likely outgoings to also contend with as one star’s future hangs in the balance.
Diego Carlos’ future is uncertain as Sevilla’s transfer stance is made clear
After playing a significant part in the 2023/24 campaign, Diego Carlos became a player of great importance to Emery’s depth in defence.
While the Brazilian secured 38 appearances throughout last season, his future at Villa has become uncertain with interest reported.
Carlos has been linked to Premier League clubs as Monchi considers possible suitors for the high-earning centre-back.
Recently, a report from Spanish outlet Diario de Sevilla discussed Sevilla’s stance on possibly reconnecting with their former player.
The report says that while Carlos has ‘directly shown’ his willingness to rejoin Sevilla, the Spanish club view a move for the defender as ‘totally unrealistic’.
Added to that, Sevilla are said to be ‘not even considering’ exploring the possibilities of signing the 31-year-old due to his wages being so high.
As a result, Carlos’ chances of moving back to LaLiga are ‘almost impossible’ unless the player was to be available for cheap and be willing to reduce his salary.
Aston Villa are still battling Steven Gerrard’s mishaps
Sevilla’s stance only reinforces some of the battles that Emery and Monchi face when it comes to upgrading the squad in the near future.
Players like Carlos are important for depth purposes however, at 31, there could be far better options for Villa to consider at centre-back.
The financial issue that Sevilla raised all stems back to the mishaps of Steven Gerrard’s transfer method during his dull time at Villa Park.
- READ MORE: The expensive problem that Steven Gerrard caused for Unai Emery and Monchi at Aston Villa
Gerrard not only signed an influx of ageing players but also handed them long contracts with high wages, take Carlos, Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho for example.
With Coutinho, Villa were unable to offload the Brazilian from their wage bill due to his salary and contract being unaffordable, identical to Carlos’ situation.
Given what the Midlands club experienced earlier this summer with concerns surrounding PSR, the last thing Emery and Monchi will want to do is carry high-earning squad players forward.
Gerrard’s blunders at Villa are still a problem for Emery, as seen through Sevilla’s stance on Carlos.
