Unai Emery has admitted Alejandro Garnacho still needs time to settle at Aston Villa after a difficult start to his season-long loan from Chelsea.
Garnacho has struggled for regular minutes since moving to Villa Park, making three substitute appearances across Villa’s opening Premier League matches.
The Argentine played only **34 league minutes** across those games before being named among the substitutes again for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
But Emery insists there has been progress behind the scenes.
Speaking before the Forest game, the Villa manager said Garnacho still **“needs time”** while praising his positive attitude in training.
Emery added that he is seeing the winger improve with every session and believes his best performances will arrive progressively. [The manager’s assessment was reported by BBC Sport](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/emery-garnacho-progress-forest-143833994.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
Garnacho loan remains important for Chelsea
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Garnacho’s lack of minutes will also be worth monitoring from a Chelsea perspective.
Chelsea’s [official announcement of his Villa move](https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/alejandro-garnacho-completes-loan-move) confirmed the season-long loan contains an obligation to become permanent next summer **if certain criteria are met**. The exact conditions have not been publicly disclosed.
That makes Garnacho’s integration at Villa particularly significant.
The 22-year-old scored eight goals in 43 Chelsea appearances last season before leaving Stamford Bridge during the summer.
Villa clearly see enough long-term value to structure the deal around a potential permanent transfer, but Garnacho has yet to establish himself in Emery’s starting XI.
For now, Emery appears prepared to remain patient.
The challenge for Garnacho is turning his encouraging work in training into the regular competitive minutes needed to rebuild his form — and potentially secure his long-term future at Villa Park.