Aston Villa have not made a great start to the 2026/27 season but Unai Emery remains stoic, urging calm and patience after a frantic summer of sweeping changes.
This is a different team to the one that charged like a battering ram through the Europa League last season, beating a lowly Freiburg side in the final. The team kept pace throughout the Premier League, finishing fourth.
But many of the superstars have left. Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne and Amy Martinez. All gone.
But John McGinn remained in office. For the captain, winning at Villa Park is an unparalleled feeling.
How McGinn led Aston Villa’s resurgence
Aston Villa started the new season with a 3-2 win over Club Brugge in the Belgian Champions League last week and the captain’s comments showed how important the club is to him.
“The players who have left have decided that the opportunities they have had might be better for them, but there is nothing better than playing for Aston Villa in the Champions League.”
But Saturday afternoon’s defeat to Nottingham Forest at Villa Park was a sobering reality check. Villa currently sit 19th in the Premier League with just one goal and one point after four games.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. You’d think this might be the Midlands club’s toughest moment of the season, certainly from a consistency perspective. Many new signings take time to break in, but McGinn has started the season in typically lively form and could be the difference-maker.
The Scotland star is Villa’s all-time top scorer in European competition (12 goals), but he has also injected energy down the right flank of Unai Emery’s side at the start of the domestic season, averaging 5.3 goals per game.
McGinn is 31 years old. His birthday is in a month. He won’t be around forever and it’s time for Aston Villa to find a suitable replacement in the heart of the park.
They may well have done so.
Emery has found Aston Villa’s new McGinn
McGinn has been Aston Villa’s ultimate stalwart at this important moment in their history and, in fact, may be the absolute superstar of the Emery era.
However, the Scotland midfielder is entering the penultimate year of his contract and while replacing him will be a daunting task, Aston Villa may have done so with Joao Gomez, who joined Aston Villa from Wolves for £38m this summer.
Gomez is one of the most combative midfielders in the Premier League and he also knows how to score goals, having helped Villa lose to Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly on the eve of the new season in August.
Premier League 25/26 – Top tacklers | ||
|---|---|---|
player | app | Tackle |
James Garner | 38 | 119 |
Joao Parinha | 33 | 110 |
Joao Gomez | 35 | 107 |
Mateus Fernandez | 36 | 103 |
Tyrik Mitchell | 38 | 103 |
Adrian Truffaut | 38 | 103 |
Wolves struggled in the Premier League last season but he proved his worth as a player who can thrive at a Champions League club like Villa. He won 6.5 duels per game but also completed 64% of his dribbles. He beats almost every other Premier League player in terms of tackles won.
As Aston Villa continue to emerge with new signings, Gomez could become an increasingly influential part of the Villa Park system. He has a McGinn-like energy about him and his willingness to rush into dangerous areas could replicate the Scot’s skillset.
Gomez is no McGinn, but his energy in the center of the field and his tough tackling performance. His Villa career didn’t get off to the perfect start, but he was known as “The Bulldog” in his hometown and averaged 5.3 wins per game in the Premier League, making him a force to be reckoned with.
Whether Gomez can make an impact remains to be seen, but his profile and presence could eventually replace McGinn as the talisman in Aston Villa’s engine room. It looks like Roberto Olabe has struck gold at this point.