The 2023/24 season may have only just ended but Aston Villa fans already cannot wait for the next campaign.
That is because Unai Emery has guided Aston Villa to their first season in the Champions League since they played in what was then the European Cup in 1982/83.
It has been a long wait, but Villa fans got a taste of European football this season as they saw their side get to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
The natural next step was a crack at the Europa League, but Villa have bypassed that competition as they managed to secure a fourth place Premier League finish in an incredible season.
The best could still be yet to come, though, as one Premier League Champion has drawn parallels between Villa and last years Champions League winners Manchester City.
Manchester City Premier League winner Gael Clichy sees Aston Villa comparison
Gael Clichy was one of the first players to make the move from one of the established ‘top four’ sides to Manchester City not long after they had been taken over by the Abu Dhabi Group in 2008.
Clichy made the move in 2011, leaving Arsenal as he saw his chance of success greater at the newly-rich Manchester club.
Whilst Villa’s circumstances are very different to City’s back then – particularly with the club walking a Financial Fair Play (FFP) tightrope – Clichy believes there are comparisons to be drawn from when City first reached the Champions League when the left-back was new to the club.
Clichy was a guest on BBC 5 Live’s Planet Premier League podcast and was quick to praise the job Emery has done, saying: “What this manager (Emery), with Villa, has been able to achieve is just phenomenal.
“A club like Villa, playing Champions League football will be something that younger generations will be proud of and cherish forever.”
He went on to describe the similarities between this Villa side and the City side he was part of in the early 2010s, by saying: “I remember the first year when we played Champions League football with City, it was something very new and people were excited even though we were not playing well.”
“You know we were going to Europe, we were playing against the top teams in Europe and it was phenomenal.”
Clichy explains two things Aston Villa need to be like Manchester City
With FFP and the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) now in place it is arguably harder than ever for a team to rise up and disrupt the established order.
However, that is exactly what Emery and Villa have done, but the next step is sustaining it; a task which may prove even more difficult.
Clichy has explained what the two things Villa need to give Emery are to be successful, highlighting that the coach has shown what he can do when afforded both.
Clichy said: “But we know the guy (Emery), we know he has ideas, we know he can deliver if you give him time and a little bit of financial back up.”
The first of these, time, should not be a problem with Emery adored at Villa Park and having recently signed a new contract.
However, financial back up could be more difficult, with Villa expected to haver to make one or two sales this summer in order to bring in the kind of marquee signing they will want for their first season in Europe’s elite club competition in 41 years.
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