Unai Emery may have had to sell a couple of Aston Villa players this summer – namely Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz – but it hasn’t impacted their performances, with the Midlands side now flying high both domestically and in Europe.
The same cannot be said for previous managers, who have been under pressure to sell prized assets in the past due to financial reasons or simply because the player wanted to make a move to a bigger club.
Tim Sherwood was perhaps the manager who suffered the most concerning this, especially during the summer of 2015…
Aston Villa’s transfer business in 2015
The Englishman had managed only a 17th-place finish in the Premier League the season prior after arriving in February, keeping them in the top flight by the skin of their teeth.
The likes of Scott Sinclair, Jordan Ayew, Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards joined that summer in a bid to improve the squad, but it was the players Sherwood had to sell which eventually led to the club’s relegation less than a year later.
Indeed, Fabian Delph joined Manchester City for a fee in the region of £8m, despite only signing a new contract at Villa Park six months earlier, as the one-time Blackburn Rovers hero lost his captain.
It was the sale of Christian Benteke – who scored 49 goals in just 101 games for the club – which hit them hardest, however, as Liverpool swooped in a £32.5m deal ahead of the 2015/16 campaign.
Until recently, he failed to really enjoy a decent spell at a club since leaving the Midlands…
What Christian Benteke is doing now
The Belgian spent the next seven seasons in the Premier League for Liverpool and then Crystal Palace, scoring just 47 goals across 222 games, hardly a prolific return.
After leaving Palace, Benteke joined MLS side DC United, where he has enjoyed a career rejuvenation in recent years.
The 2023 season saw the former Villa striker score 14 goals in 31 league matches, a tally which he has nearly doubled during the 2024 campaign for the MLS outfit.
Dubbed a “beast” by U23 scout Antonio Mango with regard to his spell at Villa, it looks as though he has returned to this sort of form in America.
It is no secret that the veteran is enjoying his most prolific season in years for DC United, but even more impressively is that he is even outscoring Lionel Messi.
Goals
23
Assists
5
Big chances created
9
Key passes per game
1.3
Total shots per game
3.1
Total duels won per game
12.1
Benteke managed 23 goals during the 2024 season, with Messi – and former Anfield hero, Luis Suarez – scoring 20 for Inter Miami in the same time period.
The centre-forward scored once every 113 minutes during the regular season, while also registering 3.1 shots per game, creating nine big chances and averaging 1.3 key passes per game, proving that it wasn’t just in front of goal where he was making a big impact.
Despite his exploits, DC United missed out on the MLS playoffs, further demonstrating just how impressive a season the Belgian striker had on an individual basis.
Of course, receiving a fee of £32.5m back in 2015 was difficult to turn down, but Villa may have avoided relegation had they managed to keep a hold of their prized asset that season.
The £66m goalscoring midfielder Unai Emery has asked Aston Villa to sign
Emery is keen for Aston Villa to complete a deal in 2025.
ByBrett WorthingtonOct 24, 2024