00:00Now Aston Villa are setting their sights high as the new campaign is underway with Unai Emery's side
00:09looking to build on last year's progress and firmly establish themselves among the Premier League's leading clubs.
00:17Emery has been key to strengthening key areas but just as important has been keeping the core of a squad
00:24that delivered so consistently last term.
00:27Recruitment has been measured rather than extravagant with the focus on depth and players who can adapt to the tactical flexibility that Emery demands.
00:38The Villa faithful are rightly optimistic.
00:40Emery's track record in Europe combined with the momentum from the team carried into the summer
00:46has created a genuine sense that the club are entering a new era.
00:51To get more insight on Villa's prospects we spoke to Charlie Haffenden of Birmingham World.
00:56He explained there's a togetherness between the manager, the players and the fans
01:02and that makes a huge difference when you're trying to compete at the very top.
01:08Charlie, looking at Aston Villa, obviously an incredibly quiet summer.
01:16This is also a club that will rewind to January and we were sort of thinking who's next to come in the door.
01:24It was an incredible window at the time and you could see the ambition behind those signings to maybe go and push on in the Champions League
01:30which they all obviously fell short in that incredible sort of tie against PSG.
01:36I mean, in terms of Villa, the fans must be feeling a little bit uncertain
01:41but they have dealt well with a bit of turbulence in windows before.
01:46They've managed to deal with it.
01:47Obviously, PSR has been overhanging them and I'm sure you've written about it numerous times this summer.
01:52I mean, Villa fans are probably a bit sick of hearing about it but it is, you know, obviously with the rules
01:57and it can be tough to comply with at times.
02:00So, where are Aston Villa at the moment in terms of their sort of belief going into this season
02:05and their preparations because obviously it's been a bit of a tougher summer?
02:10It's been incredibly tough and you're right, the fans are absolutely sick of PSR.
02:15I'm sick of PSR as a journalist.
02:16The amount of times I've written it is ridiculous.
02:18And not just PSR but SCR as well, the squad cost rules that UEFA are forcing teams to follow.
02:25Villa have already had some hefty fines.
02:27They don't want more.
02:28They don't want worse which could potentially be an expulsion from European competitions.
02:32They've got to bring their wage bill down and that has really restricted their transfer business.
02:36Not only have they had to restrict the transfer fees spent because of PSR
02:40but they've also had to think about can they get rid of some high-earning players
02:43to make room for some new players to come in.
02:46It's a lot easier said than done.
02:48We expected the likes of Emiliano Martinez and Leon Bailey to get out the door pretty quickly
02:53at the start of the summer but that's not happened.
02:56The likes of Jacob Ramsey potentially could be on the way out
02:59but he's not one of the highest earners at the club.
03:02It's more bookable profit because he's an academy product.
03:05Could potentially go to West Ham or Nottingham Forest.
03:07There's been a lot of talk there.
03:08But as I say, they need to get rid of players before they can really think about bringing any in
03:13and that has really restricted them.
03:14They have brought in a backup goalkeeper to replace Robin Olsen, Marco Bizzot from the French division.
03:21He was pretty high up among save percentages and clean sheets last season which is decent
03:26and he's got a fair amount of experience over there.
03:28So, I think that makes sense as a backup addition.
03:31But if Martinez is going to go, they're going to have to sign a new goalkeeper to replace him.
03:35I don't think Bizzot is going to be capable of being the number one just yet.
03:38But there is a positive amongst all of this and that is that Evan Gesson,
03:42who's a versatile attacker from France playing for Nice, is joining the club.
03:48Finally, out of nowhere, this one seems to have come out.
03:51About £30 million after add-ons.
03:53He plays a striker, he plays a right winger, a left winger.
03:56Not really your traditional centre forward.
03:58He's not like an Ollie Watkins that gets in behind necessarily.
04:01He's more of a, maybe a Morgan Rodgers type that dribbles at defenders.
04:04He's quite powerful and can get in behind that way.
04:07So, that's an exciting signing at least.
04:09But I think Vinod need a lot more if they're going to compete in the Premier League and the Europa League.
04:15As we saw last season, their squad was laid pretty bare when their injuries at the start of the year.
04:20Unai Emery hoping they can get a few more names over the line before the end of the transfer window.
04:24They won't be in trouble, but they might struggle a little bit.
04:27Their trophy drought by winning it.
04:28Unai Emery has won the competition four times in the past.
04:33Surely, they're going to go far in that.
04:34So, that's a good opportunity at least for a trophy.
04:37But as I've mentioned, fixture congestion could be a real problem.
04:40It's going to be incredibly difficult to balance so many competitions.
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