Dean Smith has told VillaTV that Aston Villa added balance to the squad with their summer transfers and expects Emiliano Buendia to ‘grow and grow’ over the course of the season.
The Birmingham outfit broke their record spend for the second consecutive season to buy Buendia from Norwich City for £38m. Adding the 2020/21 Championship Player of the Year to Smith’s plans before parting with Jack Grealish to Manchester City.
Only four teams spent more than Aston Villa this summer, per Sky Sports, although banking £100m from Grealish. The Villans added Danny Ings (£25m), Leon Bailey (£30m), Ashley Young (free) and Axel Tuanzebe (loan), along with Buendia.
Aston Villa’s signings please Smith, who feels he now has more options to change how his side plays more often. The Villans boss also believes now represents an exciting time for the Second City outfit after strengthening multiple positions.
“I feel there is a really good balance to our squad now,” Smith said. “It allows us to be adaptable, we’ve brought in some really good signings. Leon Bailey has only been on the pitch a short amount of minutes, but he’s already shown the excitement he can bring.
“Emi Buendia will grow and grow throughout this team. Villa fans know Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe and what they can bring to the team, as well. So, it’s a really exciting time for us as a club.
“I think it was a coup to get someone like Danny Ings. A proven goalscorer at this level and watching the Manchester United game again, the work-rate he puts even, even though he didn’t have too many chances. He will score goals at this level.”
Buendia still finding his feet at Aston Villa
Buendia joined Aston Villa after helping Norwich secure the Championship title with 15 goals and 17 assists last season. But the Argentine is still finding his feet at Villa Park, with one goal and no assists after five appearances across all competitions in Smith’s side.
Smith has also only awarded Buendia 12-minutes in the Premier League in September as a late substitute against Manchester United. The Villans boss was without his £80k-a-week playmaker against Chelsea earlier this month while quarantining in Croatia.
Representing Argentina in a red-list country and having to avoid hotel isolation came at the wrong time for the 24-year-old. Buendia scored his first Aston Villa goal and worked his socks off against Brentford prior to the international break.
His performance was not perfect, but showed glimpses of why the Villans spent so heavily on his transfer. But the international break and the coronavirus situation in South America meant he could not continue building his form.
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