Unai Emery has to be happy with how his Aston Villa side have begun the 2023/24 Premier League season, and although they’ve suffered two defeats including an opening day hammering at Newcastle, the three wins in their other games sees them tucked nicely behind the chasing pack at the top of the table.
Although the Villains can be a little too open at the back at times, the Spaniard has them playing a high line and a very attractive brand of football that’s pleasing on the eye.
Despite being one of the more unfashionable English top-flight teams, with respect, Emery was able to have an outstanding summer transfer window, per transfermarkt, which is testament to the pull he has as a Premier League manager.
He hasn’t had things all his own way whilst at the helm at Villa Park, however.
According to Corriere Torino (h/t Sport Witness), the Midlanders made an approach for Juventus’ Weston McKennie in the summer, but it’s said the club soon backed off.
The USNMT star had returned to the bianconeri after a disastrous loans spell at Leeds, though it appears that Emery saw something in the player that may have added something to the squad.
Sport Witness go on to suggest that Serie A’s Old Lady placed a €30m price tag on McKennie’s head, which Villa and other potential suitors, Brighton and Hove Albion, seem to think was ‘exaggerated.’
That may be why the player ultimately didn’t return to English shores before the window closed at the start of September.