Unai Emery admits that Aston Villa’s lack of firepower in the transfer market is a disadvantage compared to their rivals, but says the club makes up for it in other ways
Nassef Sawiris, Unai Emery and Damian Vidagany(Image: James Marsh/Shutterstock)
Aston Villa don’t have the spending flexibility of some of their rivals, but Unai Emery insists the club is building something special and can continue harnessing its “own power.”
With a net spend ranking lower than most clubs in the division since Emery’s arrival, it has been a remarkable achievement for Villa to compete for Champions League football over the past two seasons – and in the current campaign as well.
After 21 matches, Villa sit third in the Premier League, comfortably inside the top five, while also keeping their sights set on winning a trophy this season, having been installed as early favourites to lift the Europa League.
Last season, Villa reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and pushed eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain to the limit in the second leg at Villa Park. Emery’s team roared back to win the match but ultimately lost on aggregate.
Following the disappointment of missing out on a return to UEFA’s elite club competition on the final day of the season, Villa endured a difficult summer, which carried over into the start of this campaign.
However, since drawing with Sunderland in September, Villa have won 13 of their last 16 league matches and have only lost at Liverpool and Arsenal.
The January transfer window offers Emery a chance to strengthen his squad, but even after seeing their move for Conor Gallagher hijacked by Tottenham, he is neither worried nor complaining about the team’s limited market power due to financial rules.
“We have our own way, and we are confident. We have very good players,” Emery insisted.
“We are a huge club, we have fantastic supporters. Villa Park is special, it’s a fortress. But we don’t have the potential to sign, for example, Manchester City signing Semenyo. Like Tottenham signing Gallagher. Okay.
“But we have our own power and we will exploit our capacity. We are positive and we have enough positive energy to get to the challenges that we have – without the power another team can have.”
Asked if Villa are driven by the circumstances they find themselves in, Emery insisted: “We are not contenders! There are other teams with more capacity than us. But we are competing with them.
“Now on game 22, we are third. Why? Because the players are responding fantastically to the work we are doing.
“We are creating something special here. More than the capacity to buy everything we want.”
Emery’s side are targeting their 12th home win in a row on Sunday, against an Everton team who have failed to beat Villa in 13 league attempts since they returned to the Premier League in 2019.
“We’re focusing on this match after 10 days of not playing a match in the Premier League. We must remind ourselves of the importance of this competition – it’s the priority for us,” Emery explained.
“How we are now, third, and how we are competing to be in the top positions, and how we must be demanding to keep it for the next months.
“The next step forward is Everton and we must focus, respect them, analyse them, and deeply prepare the match to beat them.”
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