Aston Villa have a new-look midfield for the 2024/25 season and manager Unai Emery will need to quickly find his preferred combination of fresh faces if the club are to continue their meteoric rise in the Premier League.
After ending a 41-year wait for Champions League football, not many managers would be tasked with reconstructing their midfield ahead of the new season.
Going into the new campaign, that is exactly what is being asked of Emery, as he looks to plug the hole left in his side after Brazilian maestro Douglas Luiz parted ways with the club to join Juventus.
Luiz, who was signed from Manchester City for £15m back in 2019, was a standout performer for Villa last season and one of the key reasons the club secured a top-four finish.
His nine goals and five assists in the Premier League marked his best return in the professional game, which is a fitting testament to the development he displayed while working with Emery.
Enzo Barrenechea, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana have since joined the midfield revival at Villa Park for a total investment of around £76m. However, as pre-season has clearly demonstrated, finding the correct combination to maintain the club’s upward trajectory will be no mean feat.
Attack-minded Barkley
A Barkley-Barrenechea pairing was one of the first experiments trialled by the Villa boss – which was quickly reassessed following a 4-1 defeat to 2023 MLS champions Columbus Crew.
It was a combination most fans can probably predict won’t feature in the opening game of the season against West Ham.
Barkley, despite all his experience, is not a genuine all-round central midfielder. His talents lay within the final third, rather than supporting the defence.
Ross Barkley in action for Aston Villa during pre-season
Within a double pivot, Villa need a more robust option ahead of Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa. Given no player was dispossessed more times than Barkley for the Hatters last season – as well as having the second-worst tackling success rate in the team according to Opta – the former Everton man likely won’t offer this.
A role playing off the striker, which Emery often deploys, might be better suited.
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Barrenechea to be eased in?
Barrenechea, 23, mirrors a lot of the same qualities of Luiz in the midfield role. A forward-thinking, decisive passer of the ball who is calm under pressure and comfortable dropping deep. But he will need time to adjust to the Premier League.
His 33 starts while on loan at Frosinone last season are the only regular tests he has faced at the highest level. Although, what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in confidence.
The Argentine talent impressed during pre-season but hurling him into the deep end against James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez could cause some cracks to appear in the former Juventus ace’s play.
A role off the bench, as he continues to settle in a new country and gets further embedded into the squad, seems a more sensible decision.
Onana to partner Tielemans?
Meanwhile, Onana, who played every minute for Belgium in Euro 2024 and joined Villa from Everton for £50m this summer, offers an exciting option for the club to turn to.
His aggressive and all-action approach to the game will excite fans, while also offering some much-needed height and physicality to the squad.
While he is not a genuine holding midfielder, his ability to break up play, drive the team forward and regularly find a team-mate after retaining the ball will help relieve any pressure Villa are facing throughout the game.
His international team-mate Youri Tielemans seems to be the likely pairing for him in midfield moving forward, with the duo impressing during a recent 3-2 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Tielemans was likened to Luiz by Emery earlier in the year, which could hint at a more prominent role in the squad following his exit. “Players like Douglas Luiz and Youri Tielemans, they are similar,” the Villa boss said to Sky Sports.
Regardless of who is selected by Emery, the club will be hindered by the loss of Boubacar Kamara, who is still sidelined by an ACL injury. “They need a Kamara type to protect them when they are trying to build up,” he continued.
The French international offers the necessary security that players like Luiz and Tielemans need to wander forward and express themselves in the final third.
But with no update on his fitness since suffering his injury in February, Villa will have to start the season without the former Marseille man.
Most importantly for Villa, they have options to consider. Having previously relied on players such as Tim Iroegbunam and Calum Chambers, who have both now left the club, Emery has had the opportunity to bring fresh faces in that fit the desired profile.
There will undoubtedly be some teething issues for this new-look Villa midfield. It was an area of the pitch which virtually picked itself last season.
But with the combined traits of Onana, Barkley, Tielemans, Barrenechea and their versatile captain John McGinn, Villa should be able to recover the same fluidity and continue competing with the very best in the top flight of English football.
Watch West Ham vs Aston Villa live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm
