Unai Emery cut a frustrated figure after Aston Villa’s home defeat by Everton – and anyone who studies the club during transfer windows knows this is no surprise.
Lack of spending power, injuries to key players and a sense of niggling disappointment at the result all contributed to Emery’s grouchy demeanour.
A return to winning ways will quickly make him happier, with Villa facing trips to Fenerbahce and Newcastle in the space of four days this week. But good work in the transfer market will also put a smile on Emery’s face and with key midfielder Boubacar Kamara set for a long spell out of action, Villa need to move extremely astutely in the coming days.
While there is sympathy with Villa’s anger at financial rules they believe are designed to protect the wealthiest, nobody forced them to buy Evann Guessand or contribute heavily to the wages of Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott.
Similar mistakes this time could be fatal for their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, so the stakes could scarcely be higher.
Reasons behind Emery’s frustration
Emery’s view that Villa are ‘not contenders’ to be in the top five of the Premier League set a few hares running among those who do not follow the club, after Sunday’s home defeat by Everton. Yet it is something he says fairly regularly in media briefings. Indeed, at the start of the campaign, Emery will usually say Villa are not contenders to be in the ‘top seven’.
What he means is this: Villa’s financial power is dwarfed by that of the traditional ‘Big Six’ and Newcastle, so they should not be expected to finish above them. So when Emery made his ‘top five’ remark, it was nothing new.
His overall mood is another matter. When the transfer window is open, Emery becomes agitated. He knows Villa are severely limited by Premier League and UEFA spending rules but – like many supporters – probably does not understand the reasons fully.
In some ways, it would be easier for Emery if Villa’s owners were reluctant to spend. At least he could get that straight in his mind and crack on accordingly. Instead, Villa would love to invest heavily – but cannot do so without suffering points penalties and possible exclusion from UEFA competitions.
Emery is at his best when he can concentrate entirely on trying to win the next game. Right now, he is desperate to strengthen Villa’s depleted squad and his personality is such that he cannot simply leave this task to director of football, Damian Vidagany, or transfer chief Roberto Olabe.
It irked him that even though Villa are 11 places above Tottenham in the table, they lost out on the signing of Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid because Villa could not do a permanent deal and Spurs could. Those pesky rules, once again.
Then he sees Manchester City, level on points with Villa, spending nearly £85million on Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi. Throw in the sort of result against Everton that will needle Emery for days, and it was no surprise to see him so grumpy.
When the window closes, plenty at Villa will breathe a sign of relief. It gives Emery chance to reset and do what he does best – coaching, tactics and analysis.
Until then, though, everyone at the club will hold on tight and hope that when the window closes on February 2, they are still in reasonable shape. In an ideal world, they deliver a similar finale to 12 months ago, when Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio arrived on loan and helped revive their season.
The flipside is another mess like the summer, which left Villa paying the best part of £350,000 a week to Sancho and Elliott, both without a Premier League goal or assist this season.
How is the squad looking?
Despite recent optimism that Kamara would face only a brief period on the sidelines with his knee injury, there is now serious concern at Villa that the Frenchman will be out for much longer. He was due to be re-examined this week yet there are those at the club who believe Kamara may now be absent for a significant period.
That would be a huge blow, as Villa are a far more effective side with him than without. Since Kamara joined Villa in 2021, they have won nearly 58 per cent of their matches with him in the starting XI. Without him in the line-up, that figure drops to just above 43 per cent. No wonder Emery was in such a gloomy frame of mind at the weekend.
Villa are hoping for better news on John McGinn, who also went off with knee trouble in the loss to Everton and was having further examinations early this week. The initial verdict was that McGinn would be back in action sooner rather than later but Kamara’s prognosis shows nothing can be taken for granted.
Where there was tension between Emery and previous transfer chief Monchi, sacked last September, there is a better rapport with Olabe, a career-long ally. While Emery rules the roost at Villa, Olabe has had significant input on the award of new contracts since his arrival and will play a key role in the days ahead.
Where will the next moves come?
After allowing Donyell Malen to join Roma on loan with an option to buy, Villa’s priority had been to sign quality competition for Ollie Watkins and they had targeted Tammy Abraham, who wanted to rejoin the club after his successful season on loan in 2018-19.
Yet Besiktas have been reluctant to lose Abraham, who is on loan in Turkey from Roma and played all but the final seconds of their win over Kayserispor on Monday.
However, Daily Mail Sport understands Villa officials attended that fixture in Istanbul which indicates they are making substantial efforts to get the deal over the line. It is thought they are prepared to offer Abraham, 28, a four-year deal.
Daily Mail Sport can reveal that Villa have even discussed the possibility of bringing back Leon Bailey from his loan spell at Roma, who do not want him.
The Jamaican’s return would at least add greater depth in attacking positions, where Sancho and Evann Guessand have struggled to make an impact. This idea has yet to solidify, but it would at least allow Villa to concentrate what funds they have on other areas of the pitch, with midfield looking particularly thin.
In the past, Villa have shown interest in Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, but McKennie struggled during a previous spell in the Premier League and also appeared reluctant to join Villa in 2024.
With his contract expiring in June, the USA international is also a potential free transfer option at the end of the season.
There were reports in Spain earlier this month that Villa were looking again at Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, though at the time the club distanced themselves from those claims.
Whether Kamara’s injury will change their thinking on this matter is unclear, though Emery brought Ceballos to Arsenal and has long admired him.