It has been an alarming start to the brand new Premier League season for Aston Villa.
Unai Emery's men remain without a win after their first three drab contests in the tough division, with zero goals tallied up, as their latest defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace sounded the alarm bells even more, considering the Eagles wiped the floor with the Villans on their own patch 3-0.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery before the match
Still, Emery will know he can turn it around at the Villa Park helm, with a bumper 76 wins under his belt, managing the West Midlands outfit.
He will also be helped by some flashy new additions that entered the building on deadline day, as both Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho now try to boost a forlorn Villa side on loan.
Aston Villa's exciting deadline day additions
After all, Villa have won very recently when it comes to getting the very best out of a loanee from a Premier League rival, with Marcus Rashford linking up with Emery and Co. last season from Manchester United to pick up a hefty ten goal contributions from 17 appearances.
Sancho will be hoping he can have a similar positive impact on proceedings, donning his new claret and blue, having just come off a promising campaign at Chelsea when loaned away from Old Trafford, where he mustered up his own impressive tally of five strikes and ten assists from 42 clashes.
For a star that was once worth £73m when entering the Theatre of Dreams, it will all centre on him trying to salvage his faltering playing days even more under Emery's wing, with his estimated valuation now sitting at a far lower £27m, as per Football Transfers.
For £8m more, Villa could well welcome Elliott permanently after his initial loan stint is up from Liverpool, with a £35m obligation to buy having been included as part of the deal. That is in line with his current market valuation of around £34m.
Harvey Elliott celebrates for Liverpool
This doesn't feel like an extortionate amount to fork out either, considering the two-time Premier League winner can boast 15 goal contributions in the challenging league, despite only making just 35 starts for the Reds in the division.
Away from the plethora of new buys arriving in the West Midlands, Emery will also know he has some individuals in his side already that can deliver on the big stage, irrespective of his team's limp opening to the campaign.
The Aston Villa star worth more than Sancho & Elliott
The former Arsenal boss has been a transformative presence for many a Villans star since he arrived at the club in 2022.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery during a lap of honour after the match
Indeed, Morgan Rogers has been turned into a Premier League superstar under the Spaniard's expertise, with a bumper 17 goals and 17 assists next to his name for the claret and blue half of Birmingham.
Subsequently, the recent PFA Young Player of the Year recipient has been touted to step away from Villa Park for a whopping £100m, amid interest from the likes of Arsenal, despite only joining at the start of 2024 for a meagre £8m.
ollie-watkins-aston-villa
Amazingly, Ollie Watkins also joined the Villans back in 2020 for a reasonable £28m, with the experienced attacker now a feared Premier League goal machine for Emery's men when performing to the peak of his powers.
Watkins has never looked back since deserting Brentford, having now amassed a mammoth 75 Premier League strikes for Villa, which has led to the 5-foot-11 marksman being dubbed as "unbelievable" by ex-Villa player Stephen Warnock, on top of being heralded as a "machine" Brentford's programme editor, Chris Deacon.
Watkins' rising value
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via Transfermarkt/Football Transfers
Off the back of being consistently red-hot in front of goal, as seen glancing at his blistering numbers above, Watkins' own estimated valuation now comes in at a mammoth £55m, as per Football Transfers, making him a more pricey asset than his compatriots, Elliott and Sancho, despite their esteemed reputations.
The 29-year-old has fired some uncharacteristic blanks so far this season, but there is hope he can turn it around.
Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins celebrates scoring their first goal
With both Elliott and Sancho through the door, Emery has some fresh, exciting attacking personnel to experiment with, alongside his attempts to get the very best out of the Villa old guard again.