Aston Villa are progressing fairly well under manager Unai Emery, but are currently facing considerable adversity following the sale of Morgan Rodgers, who will sign with Chelsea this summer.
Rodgers, 23, has emerged as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world over the past few seasons, but Villa have appeared to have changed key attacking positions a number of times over the past few years and have overcome such setbacks before.
In January 2024, John Duran left Villa Park to join Al Nasr for £71 million. A prolific start to the major stages ended here, but Emery responded with confidence by signing Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford on loan, with former Manchester City defender Nedem Onuoha saying the pair’s additions “worked out very well” for the club.
Replacing Rodgers will be an even more difficult task with the expected sale of Leon Bailey. But this is a hurdle Emery can scale with confidence.
How Aston Villa can replace Bailey and Rodgers
Chelsea are set to sign Rodgers this summer after agreeing a £117m transfer fee with Aston Villa. This surpasses Jack Grealish’s one-off sale to Manchester City and will make Rodgers the second most expensive player in Premier League history.
He is an absolute phenomenon, very powerful and effective when pressed into the box. He’s a good scorer, he’s creative and he’s just as effective on the wing as a traditional number 10.
Johan Manzambi, 20, has already been signed from Freiburg for around £50 million and if his performances for Switzerland at the World Cup are anything to go by, he will add a physical attacking edge to Villa’s set-up, but that may not be enough given the versatile Bailey is also on the move.
Bailey has been a crafty and tenacious winger for Aston Villa for many years, but he proved all the doubters wrong when he returned from a loan spell with Roma and revived his club career late last year.
The Lions have been working hard to strengthen their midfield following the sale of Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana’s ACL injury, but with the Champions League just around the corner they need more forwards.
£50m star could be signed to replace Rodgers
Aston Villa are losing a rare and influential cog in Rodgers, but he is not irreplaceable. Villa went from strength to strength when Grealish was sold to City, and the same logic could apply here if the right player is brought in.
According to TEAMtalk, Aston Villa have entered into talks with Chelsea over a potential summer deal for Alejandro Garnacho, but Garnacho is expected to leave Stamford Bridge to get more first-team minutes. Villa are being considered as a destination for him, with the winger tipped to be open to a move to the Midlands side.
Garnacho only joined the Blues from Manchester United in a £40m deal a year ago, but after failing to enjoy his best season in the capital, Xabi Alonso appears to have decided he meets the requirements.
Still, Chelsea know how to play tough in the transfer market and actually increased Garnacho’s transfer fee to £50m. Importantly, Garnacho is open to a move to the Midlands where he could play a central role and finally realize the ‘world-class’ potential that Erik ten Hag said would be available in 2024.
Garnacho’s Premier League career | ||
|---|---|---|
season | App (launch) | Goal + Assist |
25/26 | 24(14) | 1+4 |
24/25 | 36(23) | 6+2 |
23/24 | 36(30) | 7+4 |
22/23 | 19(5) | 3+2 |
21/22 | 2 (0) | 0+0 |
Garnacho has a versatile attacking profile and is endowed with an X-factor that allows him to be tenacious and do great things on the ball. His bicycle kick against Man United against Everton remains firmly established as one of the Premier League’s best goals.
The 22-year-old only scored eight goals for Chelsea last season, one of which came in the Premier League, but it was a throwback and a fall from the standards set over the past few years at Old Trafford, showing a high level of quality and a hunger to become one of the best players.
Even during last year’s downturn, Garnacho won 45% of his ground battles. With Rodgers winning just 36%, Emery could bring out the combativeness from Garnacho and establish him as a Premier League superstar.
In this regard, he could be the perfect successor to Rodgers, electric paced and unpredictable. Emery, who has been hailed as a “special player” by Bruno Fernandes in the past, could help get the resurgent Three Lions back on track by providing the Argentine with a comfortable environment to bounce back, much like he did with former Man United teammate Rashford a few years ago.
Garnacho will need to prove that his decline in form is circumstantial and not proof that his detractors point to a failure of his potential and an inability to keep it all together.
NSWE will need to continue to strengthen elsewhere in Rodgers’ place. Given that Garnacho shares with Rodgers the athleticism and physical markers that have formed the basis of his success at Villa Park over the past few years, this could indeed be a shrewd signing, giving the club another player who can lead them to title success.
