With the signing of Evann Guessand, Aston Villa now have the squad effectively secured for the upcoming season. While the U.S.-based preseason tour would have served as a good opportunity to watch the striker in action and get him acclimated, the news of his arrival does come in time for the rest of the friendly fixtures following the AS Roma encounter.
What this ultimately shows is how Villa are comfortable in terms of their current roster construction approach. All of the other Premier League teams are insistent on making as many signings as possible, attempting to make as large of a splash as possible in the transfer market.
This upcoming season will serve as a great litmus test. There will be the chance to view how teams go about filling out their roster. From Villa's perspective, due to how the rules are set up, the club has opted to try to go with a different approach.
There have been signings prior to Guessand. Yasin Özcan and Zépiqueno Redmond were added early. Özcan, however, was shortly sent out on loan to R.S.C. Anderlecht. News of this development was shared from the club during the ending stages of the U.S. tour.
Contrasting approach from Aston Villa
In general, though, the approach from Villa shows a completely different mindset when it comes to the side's operation. Others, such as the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool, on the other hand, are given full liberty to make any changes necessary that they view will help them to remain competitive for a Premier League push.
How the season unfolds and how Villa perform against the clubs that were in a position to spend tons of money will be an interesting aspect to follow. For Unai Emery and Monchi, the belief is that they will still be able to put up a worthy fight by keeping with the status quo of how Villa is choosing to double-down on those currently part of the squad.