There was a point, not so long ago, when Aston Villa’s season looked like a rebuild taking place in public. Four Premier League matches had brought only one point, following a summer in which the squad had been picked over for £365.25m in sales. Unai Emery has seen difficult jobs before, though, and Villa are once again beginning to resemble one of his sides: organised, competitive and increasingly awkward to face.
The 1-0 win at Newcastle last weekend carried more than three points. It was Emery’s 100th Premier League victory, reached in 197 matches, making him the ninth quickest manager to the mark. His response had the familiar mixture of ambition and realism. “I hope I can manage another 100 games and win them,” he said. “But in football, you either win or you do not.”
He was rather more expansive about the performance at St James’ Park, where Villa stood up to Newcastle physically and tactically. Emery called it a “really fantastic” result, praising the way his players competed, won individual battles and showed their commitment. In short, he liked the lot of it.
That recovery has been required because the scale of Villa’s summer turnover was considerable. Emiliano Martínez left for £8.75m, while Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins departed for £59.6m, £41m, £138m and £58.4m respectively. Donyell Malen brought in £25m and Lucas Digne £7m. It meant Emery lost leading figures from every area of the pitch, just as Villa were trying to maintain the standards built over recent years.
The first signs were troubling. Villa had performed creditably in a 2-1 UEFA Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, but their league start lacked reward. The 3-2 victory over Tottenham changed the mood, and they have now won four of their past five matches in all competitions. Among those was a 6-0 Champions League victory over Fenerbahçe, the largest winning margin Emery has recorded since taking charge at Villa Park.
“The players themselves tried to turn around the situation we were in,” Emery said. “After such a poor start, it was very important that we felt secure again and comfortable with the structure we are building.”
It has become the defining feature of his Villa work. He inherited the club from Steven Gerrard in 2022 with the team sitting 17th in the Premier League. In 2023-24, he returned Villa to the Champions League after an absence of 41 years, where they later went out to PSG in the quarter-finals. The 2025-26 campaign then brought the Europa League, Villa’s first continental trophy since lifting the European Cup in 1982.
This season may test the manager’s methods more sharply than those earlier milestones. Replacing so much talent is not usually a task solved in a few training sessions, but Villa have begun to find contributions elsewhere. Nico Jackson has been viewed as a shrewd arrival, Manzambi has stepped forward and Suzuki has made a strong impression.
Jamie Redknapp felt Villa’s response to the departures underlined the quality of the man in the dugout. Having watched them against Brighton early in the campaign, he thought they were in real difficulty after losing Konsa, Tielemans, Rogers and Watkins. Yet their recent improvement has made the upheaval look less damaging than expected. “That tells you how good the coach is,” Redknapp said. “Emery is elite. He improves players all the time, which is why young players want to work with him and learn the game.”
Ross Barkley, enjoying a revival under Emery, made much the same point from inside the squad. “As the weeks go by, everyone develops, but the manager is the leader,” he said. “He is among the best coaches in the world. We learn and get better over time. It is exciting. When I go on the pitch, I have to do what I know I can do.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam also highlighted Emery’s refusal to dwell on the sales. In his view, the Spaniard prepares his team thoroughly, reads opponents well and gives players a reliable tactical foundation. There have been no public complaints about the business done in the transfer window; Emery has simply set about shaping the next version of Aston Villa.
One hundred Premier League wins is a tidy landmark, but it is unlikely to satisfy a manager who has made a habit of raising Villa’s ceiling. After a summer of exits and a hesitant opening month, the familiar Emery formula is working its way back onto the pitch.
