Unai Emery has been told one of his current Aston Villa players is ‘irreplaceable’ right now, and it’s not striker Ollie Watkins.
Aston Villa set out to achieve European football last term and smashed that goal by finishing in the Champions League places.
Villa’s fourth-place finish was a huge success story and Unai Emery is now looking to upgrade several positions in his squad, with defence looking like a particular priority.
The Spaniard has been hard at work this summer and is on the verge of offloading Douglas Luiz to Juventus, with Enzo Barrenchea and Samuel Iling-Junior arriving in the other direction.
The sale of Luiz comes after Tim Iroegbunham was sold to Everton as Lewis Dobbin was confirmed as their first summer signing.
In exploiting a loophole in the PSR, Villa are selling some of their players so they can invest in their squad as Ian Maatsen is on the verge of arriving from Chelsea, though there is one current star who has been branded ‘irreplaceable’.
Jacob Ramsey has been dubbed as ‘irreplaceable’ to Aston Villa
Aston Villa rejected a bid from Tottenham Hotspur for midfielder Jacob Ramsey and have outlined their stance to keep him.
A graduate of Villa’s academy, Ramsey is worth much more than the £20 million bid they lodged for the Englishman, with Argentine Giovanni Lo Celso included as part of the deal.
Although the 23-year-old suffered an injury-hit campaign, which saw him start just eight times in the Premier League, Emery does rate the homegrown talent highly, dubbing him ‘very important’ in a January press conference.
Given the issues Villa have had with PSR, many expected the club to cash in on Ramsey this summer but since his sale represents pure profit, they’ve opted to keep the midfielder and have instead chosen to let Luiz depart to Juventus.
As a result, the Brazilian was labelled a ‘sacrificial PSR lamb’ by journalist Sam Tighe, who also described Ramsey as ‘irreplaceable’ to Emery in the Champions League due to his homegrown status.
The stats that show Jacob Ramsey can be a big player for Aston Villa in 2024/25
Although Villa qualified for the Champions League, 2023/24 was a season that Ramsey will want to forget on a personal note as he registered just three goal contributions in 21 appearances.
An unfortunate injury and the form of Leon Bailey, Luiz and John McGinn saw him struggle to nail down a starting place, which was a contrast to his 2022/23 campaign.
Ramsey was ever-present under Emery and played in all but three of Villa’s Premier League fixtures, producing six goals and seven assists.
The former England under-21 international was deployed in a left midfield position and combined his creativity and dribbling skills to become a real force under the Spaniard.
Ramsey caught the eye as one of the most promising youngsters in that season and held his own against other top-flight midfielders.
As highlighted by FBref, he placed in the top 5% for assists per 90, the top 9% for progressive carries and the top 17% for touches (Att Pen).
It’s such talent that left Rio Ferdinand once ‘salivating’ over the attacking midfielder, who proved – when in top form – he can play in the Champions League.
Hopefully, Ramsey can recapture his form from that campaign and become a big player for Emery, perhaps emulating the success of Jack Grealish.
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