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Aston Villa completed the signings of Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis on deadline day, with Unai Emery confident the club’s radical summer overhaul has left Villa in position to replicate their recent success. Villa, who have lost both of their Premier League games this campaign, have qualified for the Champions League in two of the past three seasons and won their first major trophy in 30 years after lifting the Europa League.
The £47m arrival of the 18-year-old winger Mbaye from Paris Saint-Germain and £25m deal for Harwood-Bellis from Southampton represented Villa’s ninth and 10th summer signings respectively. Villa had generated more than £300m from the sales of nine players, six of whom started May’s Europa League triumph in Istanbul; Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Emiliano Martínez all departed Villa Park in recent weeks, Rogers and Martinez joining Chelsea.
Watkins’ £50m exit to Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, after rejecting Villa’s offer of a new contract, led to Villa signing Nicolas Jackson for an initial £47.5m that could rise to a club-record £65m. Earlier in the window, Villa signed Johan Manzambi for a club-record £52m from Freiburg but the Switzerland midfielder is yet to make his debut as he continues his recovery from a knee injury he sustained at the World Cup.
After Monday’s 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal, Emery struck an upbeat tone. “We are happy how we are closing the transfer window,” said Villa’s manager. “We are not regretting anything and the players who are joining are players that should be enough to rebuild the team with the structure we want. I think we replaced the players as we planned.”
Zion Suzuki, a £30m arrival from Parma, made his Villa debut against Arsenal and Villa’s new No 1 accepts the task of replacing Martínez is a “good challenge”. “It was my priority to play games so that is why I made the decision and I played in Belgium for one year, in Parma for two years,” said the 24-year-old, who joined Villa after a move to PSG collapsed in the final stages. “In the end I am here and playing for Villa. I just wanted to come here for this club. There are so many expectations. It is not easy to play after [Martínez] but I want to help the team and be like him.
“It was very important to play in Serie A for two years and now I am confident. I made good steps and now I am here to play for the club. I want to enjoy this moment and help the team. I am really looking forward to [playing in] the Champions League but before that, I want a first Premier League win to get some momentum.”
Newcastle, meanwhile, concluded a “transformational” transfer window by securing the target that topped their shopping list in May with only hours of the transfer window remaining.
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