Aston Villa are this season's surprise package as Unai Emery's side are currently sitting inside the Champions League spots heading into December. However, given the team's impressive recruitment in recent years, perhaps Villa's positioning in the table isn't that much of a surprise.
The Midlands club have been incredibly smart in the transfer market, signing players with immense quality for affordable prices such as Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Ollie Watkins, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa, just to name a few.
Under Emery, Villa have become a force once more in the Premier League, having ended the previous campaign in seventh place, earning a spot in the Europa Conference League this term — the club's first taste of European action for 13 years.
Douglas Luiz given the night off in Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Legia
Emery drops Luiz and Carlos in Aston Villa’s predicted lineup vs Legia in the Europa League.
ByAdam ScullyNov 30, 2023
Nevertheless, while Emery and his coaching staff can accept a huge bulk of the plaudits, owners NSWE and their recruitment team can take credit for some first-rate transfers in recent seasons.
Aston Villa's transfers since 2020
At the end of the 2019/20 campaign, Aston Villa stayed in the top flight by the skin of their teeth with a 1-1 draw against West Ham United on the final day. The escape was too close to comfort for the board who swiftly looked to improve the squad that summer.
Since the 2020 summer window, Villa have taken risks, but calculated ones, in an attempt to reach the position they now find themselves.
Ollie Watkins
£29.3m
Bertrand Traore
£15.9m
Emi Martinez
£15m
Morgan Sanson
£13.6m
Matty Cash
£13.6m
Emiliano Buendia
£33.2m
Leon Bailey
£27.6m
Lucas Digne
£25.9m
Danny Ings
£25.4m
Calum Chambers
Free
Ashley Young
Free
Diego Carlos
£26.8m
Philippe Coutinho
£17.3m
Jhon Duran
£14.4m
Leander Dendoncker
£13m
Alex Moreno
£11.7m
Robin Olsen
£3m
Boubacar Kamara
Free
Jan Bednarek
Free
Moussa Diaby
£47.5m
Pau Torres
£28.5m
Youri Tielemans
Free
Total
£361.7m
Stats via Transfermarkt
Over the past three years, Aston Villa have spent £361.7m on 22 permanent signings, as per Transfermarkt, which equates to £16.4m per player, proving just how astute the board have been in the transfer market despite the disappointing tenures of Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard.
There have been far more hits than misses too which makes Villa's place in the table even more unsurprising, while players that didn't quite work out were either allowed to leave permanently or on loan.
However, there is one player who cost Villa a lot of money a few years back and has struggled to find his place in the starting lineup this season.
How much Aston Villa signed Leon Bailey for
Having moved to Aston Villa from Bayer Leverkusen for close to £30m in 2021, Leon Bailey struggled to have much of an impact in his debut season in English football, making merely 18 appearances under Smith and latterly Gerrard which came to just 754 minutes on the pitch as a result of injuries.
Nevertheless, Gerrard still labelled Bailey as a "fantastic" player and predicted that he would have a bright future at Villa Park.
The Jamaica international did see his game-time improve the following season, featuring 36 times for the Villans, including 23 under Emery who replaced Gerrard in the dugout in October 2022. Nevertheless, the winger still failed to have much of an impact, scoring two goals and recording three assists for Villa under the Spanish coach despite starting 16 times in Emery's first 21 Premier League games.
In the recent summer window, Villa went out and broke the bank for Moussa Diaby, who became the club's most expensive signing of all time. The Frenchman has now become Emery's main man up top alongside Watkins. However, Bailey's form this season has proven to the manager that should not be written off just yet.
Leon Bailey's stats this season
The 26-year-old has made 11 appearances in the Premier League this term but has started merely two, while Diaby has been in the starting lineup in each of Villa's 13 games this season. Nevertheless, Diaby has started all of his side's four games so far in the Europa Conference League. The pair have featured only three times together in the first eleven in the league and in Europe since the beginning of the campaign.
Despite Bailey's limited starts, he is actually contributing to more goals than his counterpart, having converted six opportunities and recording five assists so far. Only centre-forward Ollie Watkins has registered more goal contributions.
Ahead of Legia Warszawa's trip to Villa Park tonight, Emery will likely put the Jamaican back into the starting lineup once more but perhaps should consider starting the former Bayer boy ahead of the club's record signing. In fact, Bailey is outperforming Diaby in a number of key attacking metrics this term.
Goals
0.47
0.24
Expected Goals
0.36
0.24
Assists
0.58
0.23
Expected Assists
0.36
0.2
Progressive Carries
4.34
3.52
Carries To Penalty Area
1.69
1.56
Take-Ons Attempted
6.14
2.3
Successful Take-Ons %
52.9
46.4
Key Passes
2.05
2.05
Crosses
4.65
1.67
Stats via FBref
Bailey – who was praised in Germany for his "extraordinary pace" by Rudi Voller – has statistically created more chances, tucked more opportunities away and has been an all-around more threatening player this term, having really come into his own after an underwhelming first two seasons at the club, yet the winger is still struggling for regular starts in the team.
While Emery could theoretically play both players on the flanks, the Spanish coach has predominantly preferred to have at least three central midfielders in his 4-4-2, predominantly deploying John McGinn in the wide areas but offering the captain license to roam alongside either Diaby or Bailey.
At the moment, Emery will need to choose between Bailey or Diaby to start alongside Watkins up top but on current form, the manager should give the former more regular starts.