Unai Emery gave his ‘blessing’ for £38m flop to leave, now he’s key to saving Aston Villa’s season
Aston Villa have now claimed three consecutive wins across all competitions after a diabolical start to the 2025-26 campaign.
Villa beat Fulham 3-1 to move out of the Premier League relegation zone, with Unai Emery‘s side also sitting third in the Europa League table after two games and zero goals conceded.
Marco Bizot filled in for Emi Martinez against Feyenoord on Thursday, 2 October, and the goalkeeper could keep his spot in between the sticks when the Villans face Burnley three days later.
Sadly, Ollie Watkins was not able to continue a run of goals after scoring his first of the season against the Cottagers, but it was not all-important as Emi Buendia and John McGinn were on target instead.
Aston Villa nearly sold Emi Buendia during the summer
Buendia now has back-to-back goals after a Man of the Match display in the second half of their Premier League clash, also assisting McGinn’s effort from outside the penalty area.
Villa signed him from Norwich City for £38million back in 2021 [Sky Sports], beating Arsenal to his signature in a club-record deal, but they almost allowed him to depart this summer.
According to French journalist Sébastien Vidal (30 May), Emery gave his blessing for the Argentine to join Leeds United for just under £17million, which would have seen him reunite with Daniel Farke.
The U-turn on his future appears to have been one of the best decisions that the club made over the summer, and to be fair, there were not too many to choose from due to a lack of transfer business.
Buendia is worth his weight in gold for Unai Emery
Despite only starting two Premier League games, he is joint-top for the most chances created by a Villa player on six, alongside McGinn and Morgan Rogers [FotMob].
He also has the third-highest expected assists (xA) at Villa Park, and the second-highest expected goals (xG), even after playing a fraction of the minutes that his teammates have done so far.
The decision to give him a chance during pre-season, bring him back from his loan at Bayer Leverkusen, and give him an opportunity to shine is paying off with each passing minute.
Farke and his backroom staff at Elland Road are likely regretting their decision not to push harder for his signature over the summer, but Emery will be thanking his lucky stars that he stayed in the Midlands.