Unai Emery Focuses on Europa League Semi-Final, Not Transfer Talk
Unai Emery has no interest in drifting into transfer talk or contract sagas this week. Not when Aston Villa are 90 minutes from a Europa League semi-final.
With Bologna waiting at Villa Park and a 3-1 first-leg lead already in their pocket, the obvious subplot surrounds Jadon Sancho and what comes next for a winger whose future sits wide open. Emery shut that down quickly.
“We are focused 100%, collectively and individually. To speak about the future now does not make sense,” he said on Wednesday, drawing a clear line between the present and the noise around it.
Sancho’s season has been a curious one. Loaned from Manchester United for the final year of his Old Trafford contract, linked again with Borussia Dortmund – whose managing director Lars Ricken has openly admitted they are exploring the chance to bring him back – and still searching for the version of himself that once lit up the Bundesliga.
His numbers at Villa underline the stop-start nature of the campaign. Thirty-one appearances, but 14 from the bench. Just 1,520 minutes, one goal, three assists. Glimpses, not yet a body of work.
And just as he seemed to be finding rhythm before the international break, a shoulder injury checked his progress and ruled him out of Villa’s last two games, including that impressive 3-1 win in Bologna.
Emery, though, has seen enough to stay invested.
“We spoke a lot during the season with him, about his task with us, how we need his performances, his qualities, but now it is about tomorrow,” he said.
“He is coming back. He is a fantastic player and he needs to be consistent. He has been demanding and he adapted to our structure.
“It is a pity in the last two weeks he has been injured, because he finished before the break playing fantastically.”
Sancho is expected to be back in the squad on Thursday, and Villa may yet need his ability to slow a game down or rip it open, depending on how Bologna chase the tie. For now, though, any talk of June, free agency or a Dortmund reunion can wait. Emery wants the version of Sancho that finished “fantastically” before the break, not the headline act of the summer window.
Martinez back in the frame – but Bizot stakes his claim
The other selection call is in goal, where the story took an unexpected twist at the weekend.
Emiliano Martinez, the World Cup winner and Villa’s undisputed No.1, pulled up in the warm-up before Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest with a calf issue. Marco Bizot was thrown in at the last minute and impressed enough to give Emery something to think about.
“When something happens in the last minute, like Sunday, wow, how well Marco responded,” Emery said, still clearly delighted by the Dutchman’s composure.
On Martinez, there was reassurance, but no automatic guarantee.
“He is a fantastic goalkeeper, a fantastic guy, he is ready. He is performing amazingly and we are very proud of him,” Emery said.
“Today he trained with us. As normal, he is going to be available for tomorrow and tomorrow we will decide.”
It is a rare position for Villa: two in-form goalkeepers, one shirt. In a quarter-final with the stakes this high, that decision will say plenty about how Emery reads the tie. Stick with the experience and aura of Martinez, or reward Bizot’s sharp response under pressure.
Villa carry the weight of expectation
If the pressure is rising internally, the numbers from the outside world only crank it up.
The Opta supercomputer gives Villa a 97% chance of reaching the last four. A 64% chance of making the final. At 42%, they stand as the clear favourites to lift the trophy.
Those figures underline how far Emery has dragged this club in European terms. They also set a trap. Believe them too much, and a second leg that should be managed can turn into a nervous scrap.
Inside the dressing room, the message is simpler. Youri Tielemans, who has seen enough big European nights to know how quickly they can turn, cut straight to the point.
“You play to win it. That’s my mentality and also the mentality of many players in the squad,” he said.
“When you get there, you have to make sure you play the game as well as you can and not think about the end, because that's where you can get carried away sometimes. We need to keep playing like we do and hopefully win those games.”
No talk of probabilities. Just the job in front of them.
Villa have the lead, the form and, on current evidence, the deeper bench. Sancho is back, Martinez is fit, Bizot has shown he can be trusted. The path to the semi-final is open.
Now comes the real test of a side tipped to go all the way: can they walk through it without looking up at the trophy too soon?
