00:00Aston Villa are preparing for another Premier League campaign and with Unai Emre entering
00:09another full season at the helm. Belief is building that the club can take another big
00:14step forward. Emre celebrated for his meticulous preparation and ability to get the best out
00:21of his players and has transformed Villa into a side feared for both their organisation
00:25and cutting edge. With European Knights returning to Birmingham and the Premier League promising
00:32its usual intensity, Villa's challenge will be maintaining high standards across all
00:37fronts. To get more insight into Villa's prospects ahead of the campaign, we spoke to Charlie
00:43Haffenden of Birmingham World, who feels the mood around Villa Park is one of quiet confidence
00:48despite some struggles with navigating the summer market.
00:52Charlie, looking at Aston Villa, obviously an incredibly quiet summer. You know, this
01:00is also a club that will rewind to January and we were sort of thinking, who's next to come
01:06in the door? It was an incredible window at the time and you could see the ambition behind
01:10those signings to maybe go and push on in the Champions League, which they all obviously fell
01:15short in that incredible sort of tie against PSG. I mean, in terms of Villa, the fans must
01:22be feeling a little bit uncertain, but they have, you know, dealt well with a bit of turbulence
01:27in windows before. They've managed to deal with it. Obviously, PSR has been overhanging
01:32them and I'm sure you've written about it numerous times this summer. I mean, Villa fans are probably
01:38a bit sick of hearing about it, but it is, you know, obviously with the rules and it can
01:42be tough to comply with at times. So, where are Aston Villa at the moment in terms of their
01:47sort of belief going into this season and their preparations? Because obviously it's
01:51been a bit of a tougher summer.
01:53It's been incredibly tough and you're right, the fans are absolutely sick of PSR. I'm sick
01:58of PSR as a journalist. The amount of times I've written it is ridiculous. And not just
02:02PSR, but SCR as well. The squad cost rules that UEFA are forcing teams to follow. Villa have
02:09already had some hefty fines. They don't want more. They don't want worse, which could potentially
02:13be an expulsion from European competitions. They've got to bring their wage bill down and
02:17that has really restricted their transfer business. Not only have they had to restrict
02:21the transfer fees spent because of PSR, but they've also had to think about can they get
02:25rid of some high-earning players to make room for some new players to come in. It's a lot
02:30easier said than done. We expected the likes of Emiliano Martinez and Leon Bailey to get out
02:35the door pretty quickly at the start of the summer, but that's not happened. The likes of
02:40Jacob Ramsey potentially could be on the way out, but he's not one of the highest earners
02:44at the club. It's more bookable profit because he's an academy product. Could potentially go
02:49to West Ham or Nottingham Forest. It's been a lot of talk there. But as I say, they need
02:53to get rid of players before they can really think about bringing any in and that has really
02:57restricted them. They have brought in a backup goalkeeper to replace Robin Olsen, Marco
03:02Bizzo from the French division. He was pretty high up among save percentages and clean sheets
03:07last season, which is decent. And he's got a fair amount of experience over there. So I think that
03:12makes sense as a backup addition. But if Martinez is going to go, they're going to have to sign a new
03:16goalkeeper to replace him. I don't think Bizzo is going to be capable of being the number one just yet.
03:21But there is a positive amongst all of this. And that is that Evan Gesson, who's a versatile
03:27attacker from France playing for Nice, is joining the club. Finally, out of nowhere, this one seems to
03:33have come out. About £30 million after add-ons. He can play as a striker, he can play as a right
03:38winger, a left winger. Not really a traditional centre forward. He's not like an Ollie Watkins
03:43that gets in behind necessarily. He's more of a, maybe a Morgan Rodgers type that dribbles
03:47at defenders. He's quite powerful and can get in behind that way. So that's an exciting signing
03:52at least. But I think they need a lot more if they're going to compete in the Premier League
03:57and the Europa League. As we saw last season, their squad was laid pretty bare when their
04:01injuries at the start of the year. You know, I am really hoping they can get a few more names
04:05over the line before the end of the transfer window. Or they won't be in trouble, but they
04:09might struggle a little bit. And not having those defensive reinforcements that Emery really wanted.
04:15De Zassi is obviously not going to be there anymore. He was there on loan. He had Asensio
04:19and Rashford in attack. Two incredible players to start or bring off the bench. They've not got
04:23back anymore. Someone like Doniel Marlon, maybe it's time for him to step up. He didn't play too many
04:27minutes last season. But it is going to be tricky from a depth perspective. But in terms
04:32of the natural course of the team and the first choice 11, fantastic. And they can compete
04:36the very best. It's just can they do it throughout a whole season to be consistent enough? I'm
04:41not so sure.
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