Emery positive about Aston Villa’s outlook despite summer exits as PSG await

One thing was almost instantly detectable as Unai Emery walked into a stuffy room inside the Red Bull Arena on the eve of Wednesday’s Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain. After a summer of change, Aston Villa’s manager appeared uber-relaxed, confident his team will absorb a series of headline departures. He cracked a joke about his English improving and poked fun at John McGinn, impersonating his captain while next to him on the auditorium’s top table.

Emery was in a jovial mood, then. But he was also switched on, alert to the frequency, the tone of the wave of questions at the beginning of his fourth full season in the job. “You ask about the changes of coaches and players, but McGinn is intelligent and his answer was fantastic,” Emery said with a smile. “When he arrived here [in 2018] they were in the Championship and every year since there have been changes and still the club has moved forward.

“If we compare ourselves to other clubs like Man City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool, we are competing with them. We don’t have their power … yet.”

Emery spoke with an enthusiasm that will be music to the ears of Villa supporters fretting about the size of the task on his hands. Villa have sold Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, the latter returning to PSG, for whom he could make his second debut against his former club. Villa would be tested again if Arsenal make a serious play for Ezri Konsa, who, together with Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martínez, remains on holiday after World Cup duty. Three key coaching staff have also left, including the set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee. But Emery, the beating heart of the operation, as McGinn said, is still in the building.

McGinn’s response was punchy when asked where expectations should be for the forthcoming campaign. “Similar to where it has been in the past few seasons,” he said. “I think we have consistently competed with the best in England, the best in Europe, no matter what the competition is. We will have our challenges. There is a lot of change, but when you look at other clubs around England there is a lot of change there as well: a lot of coaches changing, a lot of players changing.

“But what we still have is our main core, same manager, same methods, same desire to achieve more. A lot of people thought we had reached our ceiling a couple of seasons ago, and we proved them wrong. We have still got the same hunger and desire to go and achieve more. Our job is just to integrate the new players and try and make them believe, in the same way the players in the last few seasons have believed. I’m really excited by the sort of ‘new Aston Villa’.”

Players and staff of Aston Villa on the pitch at Stadion Salzburg. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Villa, of course, did not want to lose Rogers. Chelsea paid £117m to sign the England midfielder, two and a half years after Emery asked Villa to pay £8m to take him from Middlesbrough. The same goes for Tielemans, who after a slow start established himself as one of Emery’s undroppables. Villa signed Tielemans on a free but sold the 29‑year‑old for £35m. Digne was an equally reliable performer, taking back the left-back spot from £38m buy Ian Maatsen.

Emery knows the business but it was particularly interesting to hear him talk about the importance of the leverage Villa have gained off the back of the ride they have been on over the past few years. One of the most memorable nights was their pulsating quarter-final against PSG 16 months ago, a 3-2 second‑leg victory at Villa Park, when Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off three superb saves to prevent Villa taking the game to extra time. Emery ended up on all fours after Willian Pacho blocked Maatsen’s goal-bound volley with 28 seconds to play.

“The Premier League is the best league in the world and Aston Villa can now have better brands in the way we are,” Emery said. “I am so, so, so happy how the club is committed together with us. [I am so happy] with how we are getting better, keeping our consistency in the Premier League … the club is making a huge effort to try to be in the same direction as me. They are trying to extend Villa Park to achieve 50,000 supporters next season. We are increasing our budget through good results on the pitch, by sometimes selling some players and being consistent like we are, and as well expecting a high level, like we are more or less keeping.”

Emery, who spent two years in charge of PSG, knows how these things work. PSG are no longer just a football team but a brand: see their megastore on London’s Oxford Street. PSG’s chief executive, Victoriano Melero, has talked of PSG competing with the likes of Real Madrid on the pitch but labels like the LA Lakers and Ferrari off it.

Salzburg is the latest destination on Villa’s quest for success, with 6,000 Villa fans in tow. The stadium facade is plastered with images of McGinn and co celebrating their Europa League win in Istanbul in May. “I am feeling comfortable, happy, very demanding, even more than the last years,” Emery said. “We want more. We are not stopping here.”