The Aston Villa transfer reversal that might save their season after Unai Emery handed Leeds United the “blessing” to leave
With three straight victories in all competitions, including back-to-back victories in the Europa League, Aston Villa is starting to turn around after their worst league campaign start in the twenty-first century. They jumped out of the relegation spots with a resounding 3-1 victory over Fulham, and they are now starting to rediscover their spark in front of goal after a four-game league goalless streak. Emi Buendia, an Argentinean playmaker, has been instrumental in this comeback, as he is arguably playing his best football in a Villa shirt more than four years after joining.
Few would have predicted that the former Championship Player of the Year, who once cost Villa a then-club-record £36 million to join the team from Norwich City, would have such a huge comeback in his Lions career earlier in the summer when he was reportedly considered surplus to requirements. After a difficult time on the sidelines of Unai Emery’s team, Emi Buendia is finally starting to reach his full potential and has been a bright spot for Aston Villa in the league and Europe in recent weeks.
During his debut season in the West Midlands in 2021–2022, Buendia scored four goals and provided six assists. The following season, he played in every league game, scoring five goals and dishing out two assists while demonstrating significant growth following Steven Gerrard’s replacement by Unai Emery. However, he had an ACL injury during preseason in 2023–2024, which prevented him from playing the entire season, halting his growth. Buendia made just 12 league appearances after the team qualified for the Champions League, all as a substitute, before going on loan to Bayer Leverkusen for six months.
Many reporters, notably Sébastien Vidal, suggested that Aston Villa was willing to sell Buendia to Leeds United during their struggle to meet PSR. At the close of the previous season, he wrote on X: “Emiliano Buendía might be headed to Leeds United! The recently promoted team is getting ready to launch a £16.8 million offer for the Aston Villa forward. With the approval of Unai Emery, Buendía is prepared for a new beginning. At Elland Road, Daniel Farke wants to see him again.
That rumour persisted throughout the summer, but in the end, Aston Villa made a dramatic U-turn and ended exit talks in order to reinsert Buendia into the starting lineup when the club made a move on academy graduate Jacob Ramsey.
Emi Buendia has scored twice and assisted once in his past two appearances to aid Aston Villa to vital wins over Fulham in the Premier League and Feyenoord in the Europa League. Despite just playing two league matches he is joint-top for the most chances created by a Villa player with six, alongside McGinn and Morgan Rogers [FotMob]. A Villa team that was lacking a little spark now has more vitality thanks to Buendia, who is beginning to resemble the player the Club originally acquired from Norwich City. It would have been extremely easy for Buendia’s quality to decline in the face of all the uncertainty surrounding his future, but he is demonstrating his abilities.
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