If any manager can get one of world football’s most mercurial and divisive footballers back on the right track again, surely it’s Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.
The man who helped coax career-best performances out of while going deep in Europe alongside Alberto Moreno, Aleix Vidal, Arnaut Danjuma and more.
The man who harnessed the talent and potential of an Aston Villa side who flopped under Steven Gerrard and did what even Martin O’Neill could not do while securing Champions League qualification.
And for all those assuming a stellar 2023/24 season was little more than a proverbial flash in the pan, Aston Villa’s activity in the transfer market suggests that, in stark contrast, this could be only the beginning.
Yes, Villa have lost Douglas Luiz. But in came the uber-talented Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea as part of that arrangement.
Ian Maatsen, Jaden Philogene and a mature, consistent Ross Barkley feel like excellent business too, while Amadou Onana’s towering pre-season performances are already making his £50 million price-tag look particularly well spent.
A confident, in-form Joao Felix, however, could yet be the jewell in Aston Villa’s crown.
Aston Villa in Atletico Madrid talks over Joao Felix
HITC understands that Villa – driven on by Emery’s admiration of the Portugal international – have held talks with Atletico Madrid.
They are willing to pay £50 million while offering Felix a £115,000-a-week contract in the Midlands.
And while Chelsea have now thrown their own hat into the ring – a return to Stamford Bridge on the cards as Atleti look to finalise that Conor Gallagher deal – Spanish football aficionado Terry Gibson feels that a spell under Emery at Aston Villa could be the making of Joao Felix.
“I think they might still get £50 million for Joao Felix, because of his age,” Gibson tells El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast. “There is a little bit of star quality there still.
“He needs a manager that backs him. Unai Emery is keen to get (him). He needs that manager who really wants him.”
Felix certainly does not have that at the Wanda Metropolitano.
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Diego Simeone always felt like an awkward fit for this free-spirit of a footballer.
And, after loaning Felix to Barcelona last season, a man who joined for £113 million while becoming the world’s fourth-most expensive player back in 2019 is likely to find himself on the outside looking in if a departure cannot be secured before the September deadline.
Aston Villa have been burned before when it comes to signing big name attackers who had fallen on hard times. Nicolo Zaniolo struggled in 2023/24. The Italian is now back in Serie A with Atalanta.
Gibson, however, is confident that Felix could thrive where Zaniolo failed.
“He would play at Aston Villa if he plays well enough. Unai Emery wants him. That would be the ideal move and, at Villa, he would bring star quality,” adds the former Manchester United, Tottenham and Wimbledon forward.
“He is a big name. Aston Villa fans would be happy to see them sign him.”
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