Whatever goes wrong for Aston Villa this season, some part of it will be blamed on the loss of this player or that in the summer transfer window. Whether there’s consensus on which player’s sale did the damage might be another story.
There’s no shortage of candidates. Villa were decimated after winning the Europa League. You know the score by now: Emiliano Martínez, Lucas Digne, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins were all sold, leaving Unai Emery and the football department to replace the spine of the team.
The situation was exacerbated by the injury sustained at the World Cup by midfielder Amadou Onana, who had been one of three players vying for two spots and was therefore the best bet to step up and lock down Tielemans’ place alongside Boubacar Kamara.
It wasn’t to be. Onana blew up his knee ligaments and is essentially, if not actually, out for the season.
Watkins and Rogers will be missed for their sheer weight of goal contributions. Taking Konsa out of the defence has been identified by many supporters as the bigger structural concern.
But any player who wants to leave is replaceable. What’s more difficult to stomach is knowing there’s a player still at the club who would have been poised to lead the new-look Villa and is a perfect fit for what they’re trying to be.