Steven Gerrard’s last few months in charge of Aston Villa were a complete disaster. He was sacked from his position as manager on the 21st of October 2021, with the club 14th in the Premier League table on 12 points.
The Liverpool legend was replaced at the helm at Villa Park by Unai Emery. The Spaniard has since taken charge of over 100 games at the club, 106 to be exact, winning 56 of those. He did not have the smoothest start, with the mid-season break for the 2022 World Cup coming just three games into his tenure.
unai emery-1
Over the last few transfer windows, the Spaniard has shaped the squad to his liking, with Gerrard’s final transfer window in charge underwhelming in comparison.
Villa’s 2022 summer transfer window
There were three significant incomings in the 2022 summer transfer window for the Villans. Gerrard looked to strengthen the spine of his team signing a centre-back, number six and number 10, which proved to be in vain given he was sacked months later.
Diego Carlos was the defender who made the move to Villa Park, joining from La Liga side Sevilla. He cost the club a reported £26m, and is one of the only surviving members of that transfer window. Carlos has played 56 games for the Midlands club so far.
Diego-Carlos
Gerrard reunited with former Liverpool teammate Phillipe Coutinho on loan in January 2022, and he made his move to Villa permanent that summer for £17m.
He played just 43 times for the club, registering nine goal involvements, including a goal and two assists against Leeds United in a 3-0 win. He never really found his place under Emery and is out on loan in Brazil.
Leander Denconcker was the cheapest of the three main deals for Villa that summer. He joined for a reported £13m, although played just 36 times for the Midlands club and, again, never really made his way under Emery.
There were also two major sales under Gerrard in his final summer transfer window. One of those saw the departure of left-back Matt Targett to Newcastle United. The other one represented an excellent piece of business for the Villans, with Carney Chukwuemeka leaving the club.
Chukwuemeka's Villa departure
Versatile attacking midfielder Chukwuemeka left the club for Chelsea in August 2022 for £20m. The Austrian-born attacking midfielder must have been a painful sale for the Villans given how highly rated he was.
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Former Villa CEO Christian Purslow once believed that Chukwuemeka was “probably the best 16-year-old in England” back in 2020, and it wasn’t long before he broke into the first team at Villa Park.
His Villans debut came at the age of 17, younger than their last great academy star Jack Grealish, with Birmingham Live writer Alex Dicken explaining he could be the club’s second coming of the Manchester City star.
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The boyhood Villa fan, now 29 years of age, played an impressive 213 times for the Midlands club, scoring 32 goals and grabbing 41 assists. He was crucial to their promotion to the Premier League in 2018/19, and subsequent survival the following two seasons.
As for his heir apparent, Chukwuemeka, the former Villa star played 16 times for the first team before making the move to Stamford Bridge, with Gerrard never really giving him the platform to show what he can do.
The season after making his debut, 2021/22, he played just 12 Premier League games, grabbing his only assist against Norwich City.
So, Villa sold one of their best academy stars in years, making pure profit along the way. That turned out to be a fantastic decision. Sadly, the midfielder’s career has somewhat stalled at Stamford Bridge, and he has not had many chances.
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Now into his third season at the west London club, the 21-year-old has played just 32 games in all competitions, scoring twice and grabbing one assist. He could now depart the club in January in search of regular first-team football.
Chukwuemeka stats by season for Chelsea
Season
2022/23
2023/24
2024/25
Stats from Transfermarkt
So, looking back on it, the deal to sell one of Villa’s best academy stars in a long time has been worth it in the end. The Villans managed to make £20m of pure profit which Emery was able to reinvest, and although it is sad to see Chukwuemeka's career derail slightly, he is likely to be able to get it back on track given his age and how highly rated he is.
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