Tielemans Finally Lands At Villa As Kesler-Hayden Heads Back To The Champ

It was quite a lively weekend for fans of Aston Villa. Manager Unai Emery’s plans for the new 2023/24 campaign (which will include a long awaited European adventure) are moving forward, and even though we knew we had already captured former Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans as a free agent, as we ticked into July, he officially became ours.

Although the Belgian international did not have the greatest of seasons at the King Power Stadium last season as they ultimately suffered relegation back to the Championship, there’s plenty of life left in the 26 year old’s legs yet and Villans will be confident that given the improvement to players that we have seen under Emery, he will repeat the trick with the former Monaco star.

Having been officially unveiled, it was quite obvious that Emery played a massive part in convincing him to make the move across the Midlands, as our Spanish gaffer featured highly in his first interview.

“When I had a few chats with the manager, his ambition, his passion and the way he led the team impressed me and made me decide to come to Aston Villa. It’s a big club. I’m really excited. It’s a new challenge for me after four-and-a-half years at Leicester. Now I’m at Aston Villa, I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to get started.”RAED MORE

Let’s see how quickly he settles in.

One player who will not be getting a couple of Cup or European run outs is Kaine Kesler-Hayden, as he now follows in Finn Azaz’s footsteps and heads to Championship side Plymouth Argyle on a season long loan – another impressive showing out on loan from the youngster could see him definitely come more into the fore for 2024/25.

Let’s see what happens next as Emery continues with his masterplan and a complete rebuild of the club.

In a recent print edition, La Provence mentioned that Aston Villa are among the clubs looking to recruit Olympique Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi this summer. It has been claimed that the Villans will face competition in the form of West Ham United in the race to land the French midfield ace in this off-season.

Guendouzi’s Decent Campaign In French Football

Guendouzi put in a series of solid performances at the centre of Marseille’s midfield in the previous Ligue 1 campaign. The Poissy-born talent was involved in 43 matches for the French club last season, netting five goals and earning five assists in the process across multiple competitions.

The 24-year-old anchored the midfield well at times by averaging 1.2 tackles, 0.6 interceptions and 0.5 clearances per 90 minutes in Ligue 1. He was even accurate when distributing the ball from midfield after completing 87.9% of his attempted passes in the French first division (stats via whoscored).

His current deal at the French club will run out in the summer of 2025. Thus, it won’t be easy for the Villans to win the race for Guendouzi ahead of the new season.

Is Guendouzi A Good Option For Aston Villa Boss Unai Emery?

Guendouzi is a tough-tackling midfielder who can read the danger well to make some timely interceptions for his team at the centre of the park. He usually clears the danger when needed and is a good passer of the ball as well from midfield. Guendouzi is primarily a box-to-box midfielder but can also act as a defensive midfielder or play in the number ten position if needed.

The French footballer has already got some Premier League experience under his belt during his time at Arsenal and won’t take much time to settle into life at Aston Villa if Unai Emery can devise a way to bring him back to English football.

Guendouzi has what it takes to add more bite and steel to the West Midlands club‘s midfield. He might even help the Villans push for a top-half finish in the English top-flight next season.

With all things considered, Guendouzi would be a decent option for Aston Villa to consider during this summer transfer period as long as they can get a deal done for him on the cheap.