Aston Villa face summer turnover and new signings as Unai Emery prepares for 2026-27 Premier League season
Aston Villa arrive at the start of the 2026-27 Premier League season with significant squad change after winning the Europa League in Istanbul less than three months earlier, and Unai Emery remains in charge as the club adapts to departures and arrivals. Three regular starters — Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne — have left, while other staff and playing roles have also shifted during a busy off-season.
Villa have completed a wide-ranging pre-season programme, including trips to Portugal, Indonesia and Hong Kong, and have scheduled the Super Cup against Paris St-Germain in Salzburg on Wednesday, followed by a friendly in Mönchengladbach. Emery’s side must replace the influence of players who accrued heavy minutes last season — Rogers played more minutes than any teammate and Villa’s mid-season slump coincided with Tielemans suffering injury — if they are to match last season’s top-four finish and secure Champions League qualification again.
The club have recruited João Gomes from Wolves for £38m and signed Johan Manzambi for a club-record £51m, while Alejandro Garnacho has arrived on a season-long loan from Chelsea. João Gomes made 107 tackles last season, the third-highest total in the division, and recorded 194 ball recoveries, fourth in the list; Emery has also pointed to Manzambi’s versatility after the 20-year-old featured regularly as a No 8 in the Bundesliga.
Manzambi’s transfer followed a strong showing at the World Cup and was backed by a scouting process, with Switzerland coach Murat Yakin describing him as “a street footballer”. Villa will also be watching the rehabilitation of players who missed time: Boubacar Kamara returned from injury this month, Amadou Onana suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Belgium’s last-16 win over the USA, and Manzambi’s own knee injury at the World Cup has delayed his Villa debut.
Off the pitch, Villa have agreed a shirt sponsorship with Visit Rwanda worth about £20m per season, a deal Amnesty International criticised by warning Rwanda “is using sportswashing to deflect attention from its terrible human rights record”. The stadium is undergoing redevelopment with the North Stand closed for the season, reducing capacity to 37,000; the new stand, featuring a steel roof and a modern facade and designed to hold more than 50,000 supporters, is due for 2027-28 and Euro 2028.
Ownership and leadership remain stable: Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens were present in Istanbul for the Europa League celebrations and Michael Angelakis acquired a minority stake in 2023. Damian Vidagany, Villa’s director of football operations, described Emery in the book Waking The Giant as “He lives like a monk in a tracksuit,” and the manager is noted for long days at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath base, sometimes spending 12 hours analyzing footage and holding frequent, sometimes twice-daily, meetings — one took place less than 12 hours after Villa secured Champions League qualification following their win over Liverpool in May, in preparation for Emery to clinch a record fifth Europa League title of his coaching career.
Youth prospects and recent clearances add to Villa’s options: 17-year-old Brian Madjo, son of former forward Guy Madjo, was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to feature after FIFA rules previously prohibited him from playing following his move from Metz for £10m in January; Madjo, born in Enfield and raised in Luxembourg, made his Ligue 1 debut aged 16 last August, scored on his England Under-17 debut, and has four goals in pre-season. Jack Grealish and John McGinn have been vocal supporters on social media, with McGinn posting “English player allowed to play in England #freemadjo.”
A season that brought Villa 15 goals from outside the box also produced an 8.4% shot conversion rate from that range; seven teams recorded more long-range goals in one of the previous 17 Premier League campaigns, and no side bettered Villa’s 8.4% in that period, compared with an average 3.6% conversion from this distance. Only Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have accumulated more Premier League points than Villa in the three-and-a-half years since Emery’s arrival.
Villa’s immediate competitive engagement is the Super Cup against Paris St-Germain in Salzburg on Wednesday, followed by the friendly at Mönchengladbach, with new signings and returning players due to feature as Emery prepares his squad for the 2026-27 Premier League campaign.