Unai Emery admits Aston Villa player has impressed in training after Gerrard barely picked him

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Unai Emery has praised Morgan Sanson and suggests that the midfielder has been impressive in Aston Villa training of late.

Villa decided to sack Steven Gerrard last month and wasted no time in finding his replacement after a 3-0 thumping at Fulham.

Emery made the move from Villarreal just days after Gerrard’s departure and he has made a dream start.

Sunday’s 3-1 win over Manchester United was truly outstanding and Villa players will hope for a fresh start under Emery.

Unai Emery has praised Morgan Sanson

One such player is midfielder Morgan Sanson.

The Frenchman joined Villa from Marseille back in January 2021 but struggled to nail down a starting role under Dean Smith.

Sanson’s fortunes didn’t improve under Gerrard and actually got even worse.

Sanson played just 10 times under Gerrard for a total of 352 minutes and he didn’t play a single minute under the English coach this season.

The expectation was that Sanson would move on in January and pursue first-team action elsewhere.

Yet there may be new hope for Sanson to salvage his Villa career following the appointment of Emery.

Sanson was brought on for his first action of the season against Manchester United; sure, it was only a minute or so but it was more than Gerrard gave him.

Sanson was shining in France with Montpellier and Marseille during Emery’s time in charge of Paris Saint-Germain and the new Villa boss appears to remember the midfielder well.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Emery has claimed that Sanson has done ‘very well’ in training so far.

Emery added that he thinks Sanson is a good player and has felt that way since seeing him feature for Marseille many years ago.

Emery believes that Sanson could really help Villa and has given him more than enough hope that there could be a Villa future for him after all.

“He’s done very well in the days that we have been in the training ground. I knew him when he was playing in Marseille when I was in Paris. I think he’s a good player,” said Emery.

“He was injured and out of matches. I think he can help us. Against United, for example, in the last minute, he kept the position he usually plays and his skills were good to help us,” he added.