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Football Manager 2024 predicts how the January transfer window could play out at Aston Villa.
The summer transfer window proved to be a one of many challenges for Aston Villa.
On one hand, Unai Emery’s squad was boosted with the likes of of Everton midfielder Amadou Onana, Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen and Luton Town star Ross Barkley - but the impact of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations led to the sales of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby to Juventus and Al-Ittihad respectively.
After a promising opening half to the season, where a first ever Champions League campaign provided a large dose of excitement, Villa are now finalising their plans for the January transfer window as they look to continue pushing for success on a number of fronts. It’s been argued that they could do with shoring up their defence, having struggled to keep clean sheets during the first half of the campaign.
So what business could Emery conduct in the first month of the new year? There’s already been plenty of rumours suggesting who could be on their transfer wish-list. We fire up Football Manager 2024, edit the Villa squad to its present form and allow the world’s most popular managerial simulation to predict how the January transfer window could play out at Villa Park.
Outgoings
There were three departures from Villa during the January transfer window as Emery protected the club from losing players on a free transfer. Robin Olsen was allowed to join Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in a £1m deal and Kortney Hause dropped into the Championship with Coventry City for the same fee.
The final departure came in the final week of the window when Emi Buendia moved to Ligue 1 club Monaco in a £19m deal. One player that remained at Villa Park was striker Ollie Watkins after Emery opted to rejected a £64m offer from Manchester United.
The England international also penned a new five-year deal after the failed bid from the Red Devils. There were also new deals for Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos and Lucas Digne as they entered the final 18 months of their current contracts in January.
Incomings
After such a hectic summer transfer window, it was perhaps no surprise to see Villa experiencing a quieter January as just two new faces arrived at Villa Park. Firstly, Emery made a £14m move for Sunderland and Northern Ireland full-back Trai Hume within the first week of the window before playing a waiting game to land Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a £15m deal as the England international entered the final months of his deal. In real life, of course, they’d face some stiff competition to sign the Toffees man, who’s thought to be on Newcastle United’s radar.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin of EvertonDominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton
Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton | Getty Images
What happened next?
Hume and Calvert-Lewin played supporting roles during their first two months with the club as Emery kept faith the players that had kept his side within touching distance of the top four during the first half of the season.
After coming through an FA Cup third round home tie against Championship club Burnley, Villa’s attempts to land silverware came to an end with a 5-1 defeat at Manchester City on a day when Calvert-Lewin netted his first goal for the club.
The race for Europe continued as Villa remained in contention for a top four place until the final weeks of the season - but a run of three consecutive defeats in the final month of the campaign meant Emery’s men ended the campaign in seventh place and had to settle for a Europa Conference League spot.
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