Can Aston Villa end their 30-year trophy drought in the 2025/26 season?

Playing an exciting and breathtaking brand of football, built on defensive resilience and fast transitional attacks, Unai Emery-led Aston Villa had their fans in raptures at times last season.

However, it all ended in disappointment. Runs to the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup semi-finals produced some great moments, but inconsistency on the league front meant they missed out on a top-five spot on the last day with defeat at Old Trafford.

Although Villa Park became a fortress in the Premier League, with the team going unbeaten in their last 18 games and beating the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on two famous European nights, the fact that their season ended trophyless and without Champions League qualification must have left a sour taste in many a mouth.

Here, we take a look at where Emery & Co fell short, how they are stacking up this summer, and what should be the goal for the Birmingham-based outfit this season.

So close, yet so far

Aston Villa’s 2024/25 season was a wild mixture of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, cementing them as a force to be reckoned with but with a soft underbelly that did get exposed for large parts last season.

After a stellar fourth-place finish in the 2023/24 season, Villa kicked off last season with sky-high expectations and were further bolstered by big January signings like Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio. They delivered huge moments, like a 3–2 Champions League win over PSG in the quarter-finals that almost resulted in a comeback in the tie over two legs.

In the Premier League, Villa stayed in the hunt for a top-five spot, notching nine wins in their final 11 games, with Ollie Watkins’ late-season surge and Morgan Rogers’ emergence keeping the Villa Park faithful hoping.

But the campaign ended in agony. A controversial 2–0 loss to Manchester United on the final day — featuring a disallowed Rogers goal — saw Villa slip to sixth and miss out on Champions League qualification. This, on the back of a mid-season dip that saw them manage just six wins in 21 games between September and February — accompanied by a shock FA Cup semi-final no-show against eventual winners Crystal Palace — exposed frailties in telling moments.

Despite the setbacks, Villa set a new club record by going 18 consecutive home matches unbeaten, showcasing their strength at Villa Park. They also achieved a club record of 32 wins in all competitions, demonstrating their overall improvement and competitiveness, as players like Watkins, Rogers, Youri Tielemans, and Ezri Konsa stepped up big time and were the catalyst to most of Villa’s memorable performances last season.

With Europa League football awaiting them next season, coupled with Emery’s tactical nous in the competition, Villa will have a lot of hopes pinned on this competition. However, their knack for choking in big games needs fixing, and most of it can be pinned largely down to their defensive woes.

A difficult summer

Missing out on Champions League football means Emery & Co must cut their cloth accordingly. As a result, Villa’s summer budget has been affected massively.

The Midlands club stand to lose out by anywhere between £30 million and £100 million, and player sales will be required to boost the coffers. And, given they need to reduce their inflated wage bill to comply with UEFA’s new restrictions, only 70% of the revenue will be allowed to go towards wages and agent fees from next season, making the sale of high earners very likely. With the club already set to incur a substantial fine for last year’s breaches, squad costs will have to come down.

With that in mind, Villa have finally cut Philippe Coutinho loose. He was on loan at Vasco da Gama, but a permanent deal has now been agreed, with Villa terminating his contract one year early.

There should be plenty of suitors for the likes of Leander Dendoncker, Emi Buendía, and Àlex Moreno. RB Leipzig, meanwhile, had a £12m option to buy fullback Kosta Nedeljkovic, but they chose not to take it up and instead extended his loan for one more season.

Furthermore, Argentine midfielder Enzo Barrenechea will also raise some much-needed funds by moving to Benfica, while youngsters Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Louie Barry are both bound for the Championship.

While these are players that the Villa hierarchy would love to see the back of before they make any significant in-roads on the buying front, there are also quite a few first-team starters who’ve had their heads turned this summer; keeping hold of them will be just as important as bringing in marquee signings.

The much-loved Emiliano Martínez has been heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia or Manchester United. The departure of such a top earner could help combat further concerns over the league’s Profit and Sustainability regulations, though another goalkeeper would then have to come in, as Robin Olsen has already left for Malmö.

Jamaican winger Leon Bailey had a difficult 2024/25 season — battling through injuries and inconsistency — and could also draw an offer from the Saudi Pro League, while Jacob Ramsey has emerged as a transfer target for Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest.

However, the biggest concern will be losing someone like Morgan Rogers. The young England international is attracting interest from Club World Cup winners Chelsea; losing a player of his calibre would surely force Villa to splash the cash to find a suitable replacement. 

Moreover, there is a possibility that Villa may need to sign a striker if Ollie Watkins departs this summer, with the forward believed to be generating interest from the likes of Man United and Liverpool.

This summer, Emery has been consulting with long-time associate Monchi — Villa’s president of football operations — and several others on the recruitment team about potential targets, and defensive reinforcements seem to top their list.

Villa intend to strengthen at right-back and centre-back, although upgrades may be tough to secure before making more sales given their financial predicament.

Brought in during what was widely considered a successful January window, loanees Axel Disasi and Marco Asensio were targeted for permanent moves. However, longer-term deals are out of reach.

Disasi is allowed to leave Chelsea, but Villa did not hold an option to sign him on a permanent basis and will need to negotiate. Asensio’s loan from European champions Paris Saint-Germain did have such a clause, though the 29-year-old’s high salary is a huge stumbling block.

In midfield, Villa are weighing up a potential move to re-sign Douglas Luiz just a year after selling him to Italian giants Juventus, although they face competition from Everton and West Ham. Man United youngster Alejandro Garnacho is also supposedly being tracked; the winger sparked rumours following a social media post wearing Rashford’s Aston Villa shirt.

Meanwhile, Villa have been linked with a potential move for Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, who could struggle for playing time at Stamford Bridge following the arrivals of Liam Delap and João Pedro. Emery knows all about Jackson’s strengths and weaknesses, having worked with the Senegal international during their time at Villarreal. 

In terms of arrivals, teenage forward Zépiqueno Redmond arrived at Villa Park earlier this month from Feyenoord. He is seen as one for the future and should initially join up with the U21s, while Marco Bizot has been brought in from Brest for a cut-price fee to replace outgoing backup keeper Robin Olsen.   

All in all, it is poised to be a busy end to the summer for the Villans. 

Can emery deliver silverware at Villa Park?

This is going to be a very different summer for Villa compared to the last two seasons. Their financial predicament, along with other European and Premier League clubs hovering over Villa Park to poach some of their brightest talents, has left them in a spot of bother and somewhat vulnerable.

With the club already in need of defensive reinforcements, any one of their top performers leaving would leave another hole needing to be plugged amid ongoing financial woes. Thus, keeping hold of their biggest stars will be their best chance of securing a top-four finish. However, that does not look likely at this stage. While they have been scrambling for options, clubs around them have spent quite heavily. With a squad that could potentially look quite different from the one that finished last season, and without any major additions, a top-four finish is going to be a tough ask.

That, however, opens the door to what Emery does best: win cup competitions. With a squad that is not good enough to challenge on both fronts, Emery might put all his eggs in the cup-competition basket, with three trophies up for grabs on that front.

Thus, Villa fans will hope that Emery can lead them to their first piece of silverware in three decades this season.