6-0. Fenerbahce and their players were sent packing, Aston Villa monstrous as they made it back-to-back wins to kick off their second Champions League campaign in three years.
There is a real sense that the Villa are ready to bounce back. It’s been a tricky start to the season, and understandably so, after such a disruptive start to the season.
The exodus has proved a real sucker punch after hitting incredible heights last year, but while the likes of Ezri Konsa and Youri Tielemans and Emi Martinez are missed, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been incomparable losses this summer.
Why Morgan Rogers is such a big miss for Aston Villa
Rogers has enjoyed a flying start to life at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea. Xabi Alonso is leading a flawed team, but there can be no disputing the world-class quality coursing through the frontline.
It’s no surprise to Aston Villa supporters, who were treated to two-and-a-half seasons of brilliant football. Rogers advocated for a transfer this summer, but in fairness, he conducted himself respectfully, and the Villa banked £117m for his signature, having bought him from Middlesbrough in the Championship for around £8.5m.
Long touted for the top, it was still a bitter pill to swallow, selling him after an instrumental contribution over the past few terms, winning the Europa League and marching through two separate Champions League campaigns.
Luckily, Emery and his coterie know their stuff, and Johan Manzambi has arrived in a £50m deal to replace Rogers, already looking the part as he settles in, two goals and three assists to his name after only five appearances.
A remarkable addition, but the 20-year-old alone won’t redress Aston Villa’s chopped-up strikeforce, with Ollie Watkins also pushing out the door before the end of the summer window.
Why Ollie Watkins is such a big miss for Aston Villa
The consistency with which Watkins scored goals for Aston Villa has cemented his legacy as a modern great at Villa Park. He is the club’s record goalscorer (91) in the Premier League.
|
Ollie Watkins’ Premier League Career (by season) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Apps |
Goals + Assists |
|
25/26 |
37 |
16 + 3 |
|
24/25 |
38 |
16 + 8 |
|
23/24 |
37 |
19 + 15 |
|
22/23 |
37 |
15 + 6 |
|
21/22 |
35 |
11 + 2 |
|
20/21 |
37 |
14 + 5 |
But the 29-year-old probably felt he had completed the game at Aston Villa when he lifted the Europa League title. After all, he turns 31 in December, and his agents would have intimated rising interest from the Saudi Pro League, equating to plenty of money for the England striker.
He left, signing for Al Hilal in a £51m move during the latter stage of the transfer window. A big blow, and one Emery had hoped to resist against. Still, like Rogers, Watkins left for a bumper fee after a priceless contribution to the illustrious Emery era.
You need only cast a glance toward other Premier League rebuilds in recent years to see that it’s not all that easy to build a successful side back up.
However, Emery is one of the finest managers in the world, and he has replaced both Watkins and Rogers by signing a new talisman at Villa Park.
Barkley has been blown away by Villa’s Watkins & Rogers hybrid
Aston Villa spent ambitiously but shrewdly this summer, but the old guard have quickly picked up on the potential of the new arrivals. Ross Barkley, for example, was eager to single out one star for their emphatic impact since joining this summer.
The experienced midfielder hailed Nicolas Jackson for weaving into the Emery era, prolific but connecting smoothly with those around him. In that, the centre-forward has something Rogers-esque about him.
In the Premier League, he ranks inside the top 10% of strikers this season for xA (expected assists), crosses completed and accurate long balls per 90. What a talent, worth every bit of the £65m paid to bring him over from Chelsea this summer.
He’s confident, a great lad, funny and has brought a lot to the team already, scoring important goals, and he’s growing. It’s great.
Jackson has evolved since last we saw him in English football. The Senegal international has established himself as Aston Villa’s main man after last year’s loan spell at Bayern Munich, insightful, but somewhat frustrating for the striker, who served as Harry Kane’s understudy.
To be frank, Watkins had started to wane toward the latter stage of his Villan career. Would it be absurd to say that Jackson is something of an upgrade. He has already scored five times across only eight games for his new club.
This is a player capable of becoming the focal point of this new wave. Manzambi and fellow newbie Ibrahim Mbaye have so much potential, but they are young and inexperienced. Jackson can be the one to follow.
He is now ready to live up to his potential, held since leaving Villarreal and joining Chelsea way back when. Emery is a genius, and he might have signed a Rogers-Watkin Frankenstein who is ready to take Aston Villa back to the top.
