Some rambling thoughts on the transfer window so far.
I think realistically, we picked the best possible time to do this.
The squad is coming off the back of winning a trophy. For many, in their eyes they have probably achieved all they can at Aston Villa. I'm thinking Watkins, Konsa, Tielemans, and Martinez probably fall into this bracket.
The second factor is the player ambitions themselves - again, I'd probably place Martinez, Konsa and Rogers into this bracket. Rogers is one of the biggest young talents in the country, Martinez an international star, and Konsa will probably see this as his last chance to get a big move. I find it had to begrudge them as a result of this.
Additionally, we have (had? I haven't done the new maths!) one of the oldest squads in the league. This has been something banded around the VillaSphere for quite some time, to the point where I was sick of seeing it written, but ultimately it is hard to argue against numbers - we did have an aging squad, and a refresh was coming, sooner or later.
The important part is, at least for me, that we do it while Unai is still here, so that he can develop the younger players coming in and maximise their potential.
There's 2 other factors I'd add in. We obviously have the external financial pressure of PSR/FFP, and with the money coming in from these deals that should be somewhat alleviated. As far as I know, we have one year left on our UEFA settlement. The club is likely to be aware of this, and the deals done so far are probably done with a longer term view that includes our restrictions being somewhat lifted in the near future.
And perhaps most importantly of all, the Premier League itself is in a wider period of transition. Outside of Arsenal, many of the Big Six are themselves going through some sort of major refresh, be it playing squad, manager, or ownership. Many of the mid table sides will have European football to contend with for the first time in their clubs existence, or at least for the first time in many years. If there is ever a time to gamble, to go all in on a rebuild, doing it at the same time as everyone else, or while other competitors have uncertainty of their own, potentially reduces some of the risk.
It will likely be a season of transition. If you offered me a decent domestic cup run and qualification for any sort of European competition, right now I'd leap at it. But I feel the decisions that have been made so far this window are likely to be the right ones further down the line.
And if nothing else, this squad won a trophy for the first time in mine, and many others, lifetimes. UTV.
