Can Emery work his magic again at Villa?

There was a sense at Villa Park last season they were getting into a party they were not invited to by qualifying for the Champions League. Villa gatecrashed the top five for the second time in three seasons, finishing fourth to comfortably secure entry to club football's elite competition for 2026-27.Emery has achieved this after inheriting a squad that was 14th in the table, three points above the relegation zone, in November 2022.Villa's revival has happened despite having to sell, with for example Jacob Ramsey joining Newcastle for £40m last summer, to ensure compliance with financial rules.Uefa's Squad Cost Ratio limits the amount clubs spend on transfers, wages and agent fees to 70% of their revenue. These financial shackles have long been a frustration for Villa. Selling Rogers was the easiest way to comply with the regulations but it means large-scale spending to replace the England forward as well as Tielemans and Digne is unlikely without further significant exits.Fringe players will leave though. Hull are keen on Leon Bailey but that may have to be an initial loan given the Tigers' own finances, while Evann Guessand can also depart. Tammy Abraham is however happy at Villa Park and not looking to leave.Villa would have preferred to keep Tielemans but could not afford to renegotiate his deal, which had two years left, before United triggered his £35m release clause.That is at least pure profit in the books after his free transfer arrival from Leicester City in 2023.With Tielemans and Rogers gone and with Digne poised to follow, Villa have lost 489 Premier League appearances from the squad - plus two of the players who scored in the Europa League final. Freiburg were poor that night in Istanbul but that did not reflect negatively on Johan Manzambi, who had caught Villa's eye more than a year before.He joined for a club record fee of more than £50m just two years after making his senior debut for Freiburg in what was a case of now or never. Villa were expecting the 20-year-old to move this summer - they hijacked a transfer to Newcastle - and had they not signed him, he would have been out of their reach in the future.Manzambi, crowned Europa League Young Player of the Year, represents the start of a new era along with Joao Gomes following his £38m move from Wolves.The Brazil midfielder made the third-highest number of tackles in the Premier League last season with 107 and his ball recoveries were the fourth highest in the division - winning possession 194 times. He adds crucial nous after Villa's plans were thrown a curveball following Amadou Onana's serious knee injury.Gomes is plug-and-play ready, with 116 top-flight appearances in his three-and-a-half years at Molineux. Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson could be an option with experience of the league as Villa look for a new striker, with the forward having worked with Emery at Villarreal - but the Blues' £65m price tag will be prohibitive. Emery knows he cannot afford players to take time to adapt to his meticulous methods so needs men he can trust quickly. AC Milan's former Brighton left-back Pervis Estupinan is therefore a candidate to bolster the defence.A new winger arrived in the form of Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea and a right-back who can also play centrally is also on the wishlist.Last season, Villa's expected points was 48.50, which would have left them 12th - eight places below where they eventually finished. They were one of the clear over-achievers, with only Sunderland doing better, finishing seventh instead of an expected position of 18th. Villa did not drop out of the top four after beating Leeds last November, aided by winning 12 of 13 top-flight games between September and December. Then came the drop off, with just six league wins after the turn of the year as they needed to rely on the failings of others - notably Chelsea - to stay in the top five.Yet they managed it despite Boubacar Kamara's second-ending injury, John McGinn's knee problem that kept him out for 10 games and the knee issue for Tielemans that sidelined him for two months. During Tielemans' injury absence between February and April, Villa won just two of eight Premier League games - including a 4-1 defeat to Chelsea that left them on the brink of dropping out of the top four. Without him, Villa's Premier League win ratio dropped from 53% to 41%. It all adds to the quality of Emery's work, managing to keep Villa in the top four despite constant setbacks. Doing it again against a summer of change will be another test of the manager's skill.