The Unai Emery appointment was the biggest turning point for Aston Villa in the 2022-23 season. Before his arrival, the club was going nowhere and slogging toward the bottom half of the table.
Unai Emery, who replaced the underperforming Steven Gerrard in November, helped Aston Villa clinch a seventh-place finish and secure qualification to the Europa Conference League play-off round. The Villans will return to Europe for the first time in 13 years—a great achievement for a club who were struggling for form and direction under Gerrard during the opening weeks of the season.
After qualifying for European football, Emery and Villa could be shopping in a different market during this summer transfer window. Ambitious and demanding, Emery will want to bring in quality players to help the club break into the top four next year.
After a successful year, here are three Aston Villa players from the current roster to look forward to in the 2023-24 season.
- Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins has proven to be a good signing for Aston Villa since signing from Brentford in 2020, scoring 40 goals in 109 Premier League games, reaching double figures in all three seasons he has operated in the top flight. Those numbers may be good but not spectacular, although he was playing in a Villa team which struggled at times under Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard.
Under Unai Emery’s tutelage, Watkins took his game to the next level, especially from the turn of the year as he netted 12 goals in 22 league appearances. The Englishman finished the campaign as Villa’s top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions.
For a player who has improved a lot in just six months and played a starring role in Villa’s qualification for Europe, Watkins is someone to look forward to next season.
- Tyrone Mings
Tyrone Mings enjoyed a new lease of life under Unai Emery after he had lost the Villa captaincy in the first half of the season, as Steven Gerrard opted to replace him with John McGinn.
Emery showed trust in Mings and helped him regain his confidence, and the 30-year-old’s upturn in form also coincided with a vast improvement in Villa’s defensive record. For his consistently good performances from the turn of the year, he has been recalled by Gareth Southgate for England’s UEFA EURO 2024 qualifiers.
Villa’s leader at the back, how Mings performs next season will be something to keep an eye on.
- Douglas Luiz
He doesn’t grab headlines anywhere near as much as Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings, John McGinn or Emi Martinez, but Douglas Luiz is the fulcrum who makes the team tick when he’s in full form.
Emery decided to change his role from a pure defensive midfielder to an attacking 8, and the move paid off handsomely as the Brazilian scored six league goals and assisted as many. Luiz was also Villa’s top chance creator while leading the way in terms of interceptions and tackles.
Given his transformation inside just six months, Luiz will be a key player for Villa from the start of 2023-24 season, which certainly makes him a player to look forward to.
