Aston Villa were one of the biggest success stories in European football last season, finishing fourth in the Premier League to secure Champions League football for the 2024/25 season.
The Lions’ success is the result of intelligent work on the transfer market, excellent managing by Unai Emery, and a host of strong individual performances, such as Ollie Watkins’ breakout as one of Europe’s best all-around strikers.
Aston Villa qualified for the Conference League in 2022/23 under Emery, brought in one of the best young wingers in the world in Moussa Diaby, and further improved to reach the Champions League.
Once again, Villa have remained proactive on the transfer market and are shoring up another need in their squad, as BBC’s Nizaar Kinsella reports the club have agreed to a 35-40 million pound transfer for Chelsea left back Ian Maatsen, signing the Dutchman to a six-year deal.
Many clubs were interested in signing Maatsen this summer after a breakout 2023/24 season on loan from Chelsea to Dortmund in which the 22-year-old played a crucial role in Die Schwarzgelben reaching the final.
Dortmund could not pay the 35 million pound release clause for Maatsen, but Aston Villa were – and it seems like they may be paying a little bit more to sweeten it up.
Here is a look at how Aston Villa could line up under Unai Emery with Ian Maatsen a part of the squad.
Defense
GK Emiliano Martinez
LB Ian Maatsen
CB Pau Torres
CB Ezri Konsa
RB Matty Cash
The final pieces of the puzzle in defense at Villa Park have yet to come together, as Aston Villa could use another center back and will probably replace Matty Cash with another right back.
However, in Ian Maatsen, the Lions do at least have one piece in the picture, as Maatsen can offer significantly more to the team going forward while battling hard in defense.
Maatsen completed nearly 90 percent of his passes in the Bundesliga while averaging around 2 tackles per game. In the Champions League, he was putting up nearly 4 combined tackles and interceptions per match.
The young fullback has what it takes to match the physical level of the Premier League and should be considered an upgrade at left back, more suited to the changing game than Villa’s 2023/24 options.
Midfield
CM Enzo Barrenechea
CM John McGinn
AM Matias Soule
Douglas Luiz is out to Juventus, but instead of acquiring the limited Weston McKennie, Aston Villa are snagging a higher-upside Juve midfielder in Enzo Barrenechea.
More to Unai Emery’s liking technically, Barrenechea is an unknown commodity but had a strong 2023/24 season on loan at Frosinone, though he was overshadowed by another Aston Villa target on loan from Juve to Frosinone – Matias Soule.
Ideally, Soule would join Barrenechea in this midfield as the playmaker, though a healthy Jacob Ramsey would not be a bad option either.
And ideally, the 23-year-old Barrenechea would not start in his first season with Aston Villa, but he has the upside to start for the club if his development progresses as it should.
Attack
LW Leon Bailey
RW Moussa Diaby
ST Ollie Watkins
The attack is the strength of this Aston Villa side, and the only change that could further improve the Lions would be a new left winger to compete with Leon Bailey.
Of course, Bailey is one of the better Premier League wingers in his own right, having scored 10 goals with 9 assists in the last Premier League season.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby are two of the best attacking players in all of European football, and their spots in the starting XI are undisputed. There are no players Aston Villa could realistically sign as an upgrade on either of them.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.