Gary Neville outlines Aston Villa ‘challenges’ and makes Unai Emery prediction
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Gary Neville discusses Villa in his podcast
Gary Neville has spoken about Aston Villa’s season so far and predicted them to do well both domestically and in European
competitions.
Villa have been tasked with a challenge this season of playing in Europe and in the Premier League. Depending on how far they get in
the Europa Conference League, Unai Emery’s side could be playing in excess of 50 games this campaign.
However, that’s something that Emery is used to. Having won the Europa League four times with Sevilla and Villarreal combined, the
Manchester United legend said on his Gary Neville podcast: “Aston Villa, I really like them, love the manager. I think he really gets the
maximum out of them.
“I think Villa, I predicted at the start of the season, I thought they’d do well, I think the signings are good. I think the manager’s good
and I think they’ve got good patterns of play and challenges obviously with Europe and other things.
“But I think they’ll have a good season. I think that he knows what to do Unai Emery, navigate playing in Europe and in the Premier
League very well, he’s done it for many, many years.”
READ MORE:
Arsenal need a striker – Would you prefer Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins?
There’s a good chance we’ll recruit a striker in the winter transfer window to give us a boost in the title race. It’s thought that Ivan
Toney could be the one. If you’re a regular Just Arsenal reader, you should be aware of the club’s interest in Toney and our reported
plans to make him one of our own in January.
As we await the winter transfer window to see if we will sign Toney, former Manchester City custodian Shay Given believes Toney’s
transfer to the Emirates could be jeopardised because of Ollie Watkins.
He believes Ollie Watkins’ agent must be looking at his client blossoming at Aston Villa and wondering why he can’t do the same at a
“big club” like ours, Manchester United, or Chelsea.
The former Premier League goalkeeper had this to say on PL productions about the 27-year-old Villa hitman after he scored a hatrick
versus Brighton: “He has gone under the radar, but maybe because he plays for Aston Villa… Maybe he is talking about a new contract at the minute.”
“When you look at other clubs in the Premier League like Arsenal, Chelsea, or even Man United, someone of this calibre, I wonder if
his agent is sort of secretly saying, ‘He is of that level. He can grab goals’… He is a brilliant striker.”
Watkins’ contract with Villa expires in 2025; therefore, if his agent is actually intrigued by the potential of his client moving to a big
club, not agreeing to a new deal, as rumours claim is being considered, should be the way to go.
If he was recommended to us, I believe Arteta would consider signing him (Watkins), given that he is a player we have been linked
with. Watkins is a fantastic striker; he already has 7 goals in all competitions this season, and he scored 15 goals and assisted on 6
others in 37 league appearances last season.
Though I would prefer a move for Toney, I could find it difficult to dismiss Watkins as an option for my attack if I were Arteta.
Which one would you choose?
Leave a Reply