Emery is a miracle worker - he is the one manager who can deal with Aston Villa exodus

Each summer has become less transfer window and more revolving door for Aston Villa.

Every year they seem to sell core members of the squad and end up doing what resembles a supermarket sweep in the final days of the window to bring in new players. But while Villa have Unai Emery at the helm, this is a club which goes from strength to strength while others would simply fall apart.

Emery is the reason why Villa fans are not concerned even if they have already lost Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne in this window while Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins are set to follow.

Any other club would be in meltdown if they sold as many six key members and absolute guaranteed starters in a single summer. And yet Villa have made some very interesting signings with the likes of Leon Goretzka, Matteo Ruggeri, Joao Gomes, Zion Suzuki, Alejandro Garnacho, Johan Manzambi, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Nicolas Jackson is set to follow.

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This is ripping the heart out of a team, rebuilding and going again. Few managers could do it and even fewer would be able to cope in turning things around so quickly. But Emery is right up there as arguably the best manager in the Premier League because if you look at his CV, his experience and also his coaching ability then he compares with anyone.

Last year, Villa failed to win any of their opening five games and scored just one goal. By the end of the campaign, they won the Europa League and also finished fourth. What a turnaround.

There were shades of last season about Villa’s 4-0 defeat at Brighton last Sunday. The Watkins soap opera playing out in the background, uncertainty in the dressing room and a nightmare first game.

At the start of September 2025, Konsa described the whole situation as “crazy” and complained about the transfer window - amid the backdrop of Profit and Sustainability Rules - as “killing” Villa. Konsa has since departed to Arsenal in a £55m deal and, even after a classy farewell to Villa fans on social media, is certain to be nervous before returning to his former club on Monday.

But Konsa is also super smart and a big character who recognised Emery’s qualities as a coach and manager. He is also a miracle worker because there must be a sense that PSR does its best to protect the established clubs - and this is why Villa have to rotate their squad each summer. The balance sheet and turnovers should be enough to keep them within the rules.

This summer, club captain John McGinn, talking on Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast, stressed how Emery is the most important figure at the club as he holds it all together.

McGinn said: “We’re used to change. We'll try to integrate new players and improve on last year. I'm not naive enough to think that's not going to be more difficult now with where we're at. If we lose him, it’s a different story. I’m still positive about the season. But we need to make sure we keep hold off the manager. He just constantly improves players, if they want to be improved.

“We’ve had players that he’s given chance after chance to that don’t want to improve. But every single day, eight o’clock at night, just watching game after game or player after player, just an obsession to win.”

That obsession is what will drive Emery on. They have already done some big business. They are in the market for more. Villa will be very different in September - and they will be right up there. But, make no mistake, Villa will also be up for Monday night. Villa fans seem to have developed a rivalry with Arsenal which is not necessarily reciprocated. But it has become a spicy fixture.

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