Aston Villa will have an exciting campaign coming up in the 2024/25 campaign. They managed to qualify for the Champions League thanks to their impressive performances last season and were generally one of the Premier League’s most exciting sides to watch last term.
Their fourth-place finish in the top flight was bettered only by Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. They ended up finishing with 68 points, two points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, who could only finish fifth in the Europa League position.
Indeed, they overachieved on their points tally, according to Understat’s expected points table. As per that metric, the Villans should have ended the season on 55 points, which was 12 points worse than their actual total. That would have seen them finish seventh in the Premier League according to the expected points table.
However, it was a memorable campaign for the Midlands side, who recorded their best season since the 1995/96 Premier League campaign. That has ensured their Champions League qualification for next season, with their return to Europe’s elite greeted by a new-look format of the competition.
With the transfer window now open, the Villans will be hoping to recruit players who can strengthen their squad as they push for success in both domestic and continental football. They have recently been linked with one player who could enhance their attacking quality.
Villa target La Liga attacker
The player in question here is Atletico Madrid and Portugal attacker Joao Felix. It has been a troublesome few seasons in Madrid for the Portuguese, and he could well depart the club this summer.
According to reports in Spain, via TEAMtalk, Villans are 'one club in the mix' to sign Felix this summer, with Villa believed to be 'plotting' a move to sign the attacker.
However, they will not be the only side vying to sign Felix this summer. According to the report, Felix wants to stay at Barcelona, where he played last season, whether or not they can afford to pay the £50m needed for him permanently.
However, if Villa do decide to go down the permanent transfer route, then there might be a situation where they force Atleti to sell Felix, instead of loaning him back to Barca. This is strengthened by the Madrid club’s desperation to make some kind of money back on such a disappointing transfer in the long run.
Why Felix would be a good signing
Incredibly, Joao Felix’s £111m transfer from Benfica to Atleti back in 2019 is the fifth most expensive signing of all time. It would be an incredible coup for Villa, as Emery would hope to play a part in rebuilding the career of a player with so much potential.
Last season for Barcelona, Felix played 44 times, scoring ten goals and registering six assists. That included ten goal involvements in 30 La Liga games for the Spanish giants. Felix has also had a spell in England, with Chelsea, and scored just four Premier League goals in 16 outings.
Football talent scout Jacek Kulig called the attacker in 2021 an “absolute nightmare for defenders”, and given his superb dribbling ability, it is not hard to see why. In fact, playing as a number 10, he could form an excellent partnership with star man Ollie Watkins.
Under Emery, we could see the England international line up alongside Felix in the Spaniard’s famed 4-2-2-2 system. The strikers in Emery’s system are instructed to run the channels relentlessly, looking to get in behind and thus vacating space for the two number 10s, which we could see Felix occupy.
With this in mind, the Portugal international could be a deadly option to play in behind Watkins, given he is such a wonderful ball carrier. In La Liga last season, the 24-year-old averaged 3.10 carries into the final third and 1.81 carries into the penalty box per 90 minutes, which places him in the top 13% and 16% of positionally similar players in Spain's top flight, as per FBref.
Progressive carries
4.03
Carries into final third
3.10
Carries into penalty box
1.81
Take-ons attempted
5.20
Take-ons completed
1.69
A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent's goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.
Given the 24-year-old’s carrying ability, which Emery likes in his number 10s, he can be a dream option to play behind Watkins. His exceptional dribbling skills, plus his eye for goal, means he can form a superb combination with the England international who was the Premier League’s leading assist-maker last season.
Emery has the chance to revive the career of one of the game's greatest wonderkids. Be it a loan or a permanent deal, perhaps Villa Park can be the place Felix gets his career back on track.
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