As Aston Villa step into a bright new future, Unai Emery continues to astutely manage his first-team squad and put the pillars in place for lasting success at the top of English football.
Last season's top-four finish in the Premier League sent the Midlands club into rapture, but the forthcoming campaign will be daunting and laced with peril.
Last month, there were genuine concerns that PSR would cast a shadow over the 2024/25 season, with a breach possibly even leading to a point deduction, but it was alleviated after Douglas Luiz's sale to Juventus, with the projected £60m transfer of Moussa Diaby to Saudi side Al Ittihad easing future financial concerns further.
Villa have done well to make a host of impactful signings throughout, though Diaby's departure would call, perhaps, for one more addition to complete Emery's frontline.
Aston Villa transfer news
According to journalist Ben Jacobs – speaking to GIVEMESPORT – Aston Villa are more likely to sign Morgan Gibbs-White than Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams this summer, with the latter admired but seemingly headed for Barcelona.
Gibbs-White has been excellent for Nottingham Forest over the past few years in the Premier League but would cost a fee in excess of £50m to prise away from the City Ground.
What Morgan Gibbs-White would bring to Aston Villa
When Forest paid a club-record £25m figure – rising to £43m – to sign Gibbs-White from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022, a few eyebrows were raised, but the talent was unquestionable and he has since performed to an impressive level, one of the most important members of the Tricky Trees' squad.
Matches played
37
37
Matches started
36
35
Goals
5
5
Assists
8
10
Pass completion
70%
77%
Big chances created
9
16
Shots per game
1.7
1.9
Key passes per game
1.9
2.0
Dribbles per game
1.4
1.2
Ball recoveries per game
4.4
5.1
Tackles per game
0.8
1.0
Duels won per game
4.5
5.3
He polished his skillset last season but it's impressive to note that the 24-year-old has maintained a high level of rounded output across his two seasons as a Forest player, creative in possession and combative out of it.
Further to that point, the Old Gold youth product ranked among the top 18% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Premier League last season for progressive passes and the top 12% for aerial duels won per 90, as per FBref, underscoring his value and ability as a "game-changer" – as noted by one tactical analyst.
Described as a "menace" in the final third by journalist Antonio Mango, his style of play would prove to be beneficial to a number of Villan first-teamers, but none more so than the game of Ollie Watkins, whose multi-talented attacking arsenal could mesh with the Forest star's skillset effectively.
Imagine Gibbs-White & Ollie Watkins
Watkins was crowned Aston Villa's Player of the Season last year following his prolific year, scoring 27 goals and adding 13 assists across all competitions. The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell even professed him to be "the Premier League's second-best striker" – no prizes for guessing who's No. 1.
He was also awarded the English top flight's top playmaker award after his 13-assist haul, underscoring quite brilliantly how Emery has shaped him into the complete centre-forward.
Gibbs-White has proved time and time again his unmatched ability on Trentside to change the flow of a game with his technique and tenacity, with pundit Glenn Murray hailing him as a "positive leader" who is "always looking to progress the team" with his "defence-splitting passes".
Watkins' ability to dart in behind and latch onto surgical deliveries is a staple of his style; the Villa faithful knows it well. But, this summer, on the biggest stage, the 28-year-old demonstrated his first-rate quality when firing England into the final of the 2024 European Championship, latching onto Cole Palmer's threaded pass in the dying embers.
Victory over the Netherlands sent a nation into a cacophony of frenzied cheer, and while the summer's efforts ended in agony, Watkins can take great pride in his incisive contribution.
Gibbs-White would prove to offer such support on a regular basis, for he ranked among the top 13% of positional peers in the Premier League last season for passes into the final third and the top 14% for through balls per 90, backing up Murray's point.
Villa have a squad of many talents but a player of Gibbs-White's ilk is perhaps lacking somewhat. Diaby is a player of immense talent but he didn't operate in the type of playmaker role that the Nottingham Forest phenom would bring to Villa Park.
And while Diaby's sale, just one year on from his club-record £52m arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, will sting some, Emery has prudently ventured to sign Samuel Iling-Junior and re-sign Jaden Philogene in recent weeks, bringing a new degree of electrifying energy to the team.
Ultimately, Aston Villa boast a wonderful and rich squad of talented players, but the £80k-per-week Gibbs-White could add something different and operate in Diaby's recently vacated spot in attacking midfield.
His lofty creative properties would ensure that Watkins continues his lasting purple patch in front of goal, serving the Three Lions star with an unceasing flow of supplementation to set the club on its way to the Champions League and fight for a top-four finish in the Premier League once again.
Things have been changing for a while at Aston Villa, but now, it's all coming together – and it's superb.
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