Aston Villa have been put through the wringer this summer, but Unai Emery has somehow managed to rewire his system and convince the fanbase that further glory may be on the horizon.
The horizon is quite a distance away, but that’s okay. The Villa won the Europa League last season, also securing passage into the Champions League for the second time in three years. They finished fourth in the Premier League.
What an era this has been – and it’s surely not over yet. Even after the summer exodus, with Ollie Watkins and many more flying the nest, Aston Villa look like a team preparing to challenge in the future, bedding in new parts.
|
Ollie Watkins’ Premier League Career (by season) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Apps |
Goals + Assists |
|
25/26 |
37 |
16 + 3 |
|
24/25 |
38 |
16 + 8 |
|
23/24 |
37 |
19 + 15 |
|
22/23 |
37 |
15 + 6 |
|
21/22 |
35 |
11 + 2 |
|
20/21 |
37 |
14 + 5 |
Watkins will be a big miss, but Emery will take plenty of solace in the emergence of 17-year-old Brian Madjo.
Why there is such a buzz around Brian Madjo
Madjo is an exciting talent, but he’s raw and currently sidelined through injury. Sure, Spanish reporter Guillem Balague believes Aston Villa have got themselves a “Haaland in the making“, but he must be eased into his berth as the club’s talisman.
For now, Aston Villa have covered themselves. After Watkins left for the affluence of Saudi Arabia, NSWE pulled off a record-breaking deal to sign Nicolas Jackson for £65m. The Senegal striker looks a fine fit up top, if a touch wasteful when shooting.
Madjo, though, has the goalscoring potential to become a superstar. His powerful, imposing frame and muscular approach to the striker’s role makes it clear to see why someone would liken him to Manchester City’s Haaland, and while he is out injured right now, the teenager is sure to score goals for Aston Villa in the future.
However, he’s not the only talented young striker on the fringe of Emery’s plans. In fact, the Villans have a young talent who could emerge as the club’s new Watkins, if afforded the opportunity to catch the eye over the coming months.
Aston Villa have got the new Ollie Watkins
Watkins will forever be remembered as one of the linchpins of this golden age in the Midlands, but perhaps it was the right time for him to leave. He blew hot and cold last season, and perhaps this is the right time to usher in the new guard.
Madjo is the most prominent striker looking to burst onto the senior stage, but Rory Wilson – who has never actually featured for the senior team – isn’t far behind, with circumstance frustrating the 20-year-old as he failed to earn enough chances to impress on loan with Strum Graz in Austria last season, only featuring five times.
However, after signing from Rangers in 2022, he has posted 40 goals from 66 appearances with the Villan apprentice teams, emphasising the kind of reliable goalscoring ability that could see him perfectly step in for Watkins, not quite a rapid and unrelenting runner, but instead a striker characterised by their intuitive movement in the penalty area, their composed, clinical finishing.
Prolific throughout his youth career at Aston Villa and with the Scottish national set-up, Wilson undoubtedly took a hit with his loan club in Austria last year, but he has returned to Villa Park this season and made a steady start to the season with the U21s.
In the Premier League 2, Wilson has scored twice across three appearances. That’s obviously not enough data to confirm that he is ready to emulate Watkins’ scoring record in the big time, but it’s promising all the same, especially as the second team aren’t firing on all cylinders as a whole right now.
Wilson is still young, and though he awaits his senior debut with Aston Villa, he has the finishing ability to do exactly that, having proven already that he can score consistently for the club.
It might not be wise to hurl him into the line-up when all the new parts are still gelling together, but in a few weeks or months, Wilson could be a fantastic secret weapon for Emery to use, unleashing a new striker capable of replacing Watkins in the long term.