A lot has changed at Aston Villa since they lifted the Europa League trophy at the end of May.
Three first-team regulars walked out the exit door this summer, with Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne moving on to pastures new. There could yet be further departures, with plenty of noise around Ezri Konsa and a potential transfer to Premier League champions Arsenal.
Those sales, along with the corresponding moves to replace them, mean the squad feels unsettled and incomplete entering Wednesday night’s UEFA Super Cup Final against PSG.
Most Villa fans understood this could be a transitional offseason, particularly after the lack of movement in the summer of 2025.
Having missed out on Champions League football on the last day of the 2024/25 season, Villa kept the squad mostly intact, with Jacob Ramsey representing the only notable outgoing as he moved to Newcastle.
Maintaining the status quo paid off, as Unai Emery led Villa to a 4th placed finish last season and finally ended a 30-year wait for a major trophy with their 3-0 triumph over SC Freiburg in Istanbul.
This summer though, there was no getting away from the fact there would be more upheaval. The squad Emery had relied upon in his first three years as manager had aged, and needed refreshing.
Rogers’ exit was expected, and Villa did extremely well to secure a British record £117m from Chelsea for his services. That eased any pressure the club was under to adhere to UEFA’s financial restrictions.
Losing Tielemans however, was a gut punch. While it was clear lowering the average age of the squad was as necessary, few Villa fans would have thought that meant selling the midfielder who had become so central to the club’s success.
There is no way around it, Villa did not want to lose Tielemans, would not have sold him if not for the release clause in his contract which left them powerless to Manchester United’s advances, and certainly not for as little as £35m.
Digne is another player they were not planning to let go of, although few would begrudge him the dream move back to Paris.
Villa moved decisively to source replacements, with Johan Manzambi joining before Rogers’ move had even become official, João Gomes signing to fill the void left by Tielemans, and Matteo Ruggeri widely expected to arrive in the near future to replace Digne.
But with Manzambi recovering from a knee injury, Amadou Onana out long-term with an ACL tear, and several key players still not back from their mandated break after the World Cup, the lineup Emery puts out against Champions League holders PSG may look uninspiring.
Amid the uncertainty of this summer it is reasonable to feel apprehension about the direction of the club and mourn the end of an era at Villa Park. However, it is important to recognise change was inevitable, necessary, and could mark the beginning of a new, equally exciting chapter.
It is easy to forget that for stretches of last season, Villa seemed as if they were running out of steam. Eight of their 11 losses in the Premier League came in the final 20 games, and they looked at risk of falling out of the Champions League places.
Several key players, including the likes of Rogers and Emiliano Buendía, who went on to become heroes in the Europa League final, as well as Ollie Watkins, whose future is not yet decided, came under fire at various points in the season for poor performances.
Playing for a demanding coach like Emery can take a mental toll on players over time, and keeping the squad fresh through sales and signings is therefore important.
There is absolutely a risk that due to the changes, Villa will be worse this season than they were last. But even if they had somehow kept the team together in an attempt to squeeze the last drops out of an aging group, that decline could still have happened.
The club would then have been forced into an even bigger rebuild next year than they are undertaking now, and may have been doing so from a weaker position.
Beginning the transition at this juncture has allowed Villa to attract a higher calibre of player to the club. They beat Newcastle United to the signing of Manzambi in large part because they could offer Champions League football this season.
If Villa end up replacing Rogers, Tielemans, Digne and Jadon Sancho with Manzambi, Gomes, Ruggeri and Alejandro Garnacho, who arrived on loan from Chelsea with an option to buy, they will have got younger at every spot.
Looking ahead to the new season, there are reasons for optimism, with Gomes already looking the part and possessing the potential to be a fan favourite.
Most importantly though, Villa still have Emery, who is a difference-making manager the likes of which the club has not seen in modern times. As long as he remains, fans can rest easy in the knowledge he will continue to make Villa more than the sum of their parts.
Speaking before the Super Cup Final, Emery told UEFA: “I feel like the club is in a new era, with this possibility to fight for trophies”.
Unfamiliar as it may be to see a Villa manager perform so well that they get a second act, it is time to embrace the new era at Villa Park.
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