A look at what this season could turn out to be for AVFC.
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00:00Aston Villa have another favourable draw in the Champions League against Club Brugia.
00:17FA Cup situation, Preston North End is not a bad draw, no disrespect but a championship
00:22club. It's a huge chance to go far, they've proven that they can do it in terms of competition
00:30in the Champions League. Can they go all the way in the FA Cup and make more history? This
00:34could be an incredible season.
00:39It really could. I think there hasn't really been much of an opportunity for them to go
00:43this far in the FA Cup for a very long time. I think you can say the same for a lot of
00:47the other teams remaining in the competition, lots of potential first winners of it as well.
00:51My own team, Brighton and Hervalby, playing against Nottingham Forest, quite a difficult
00:55tie there. I think they're two teams that Villa would be happy to come up against compared
00:59to the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City up at the other end of the table. You've
01:06also got Bournemouth playing Manchester City. It's not going to be an easy one if Man City
01:10reach all the way to the final and Villa have to play them. If you're going to play them
01:14on any given year, I think you would take this one with Pep Guardiola struggling to
01:18get them going. Obviously, they might not even finish in the Champions League spot,
01:22so it's definitely a good time to play them. You've got Fulham and Crystal Palace in the
01:27other quarter-final tie as well. I think they're two very beatable teams. There hasn't really
01:31been a better opportunity, has there, in such a long time. That Preston draw is just such
01:36a relief for Villa. They're going to have a very tough fixture run coming up, obviously
01:39playing PSG in the quarter-finals of the Champions League around that kind of time. They've got
01:44Southampton as well that they got to play in the Premier League. That's quite a nice relieving
01:48fixture when you've got to play PSG twice in the space for a week. I'm feeling hopeful
01:52for Villa. I think they can beat Preston and get through. It just depends, doesn't it,
01:56on who they get in the semi-finals.
01:58Villa's transfer strategy, we've mentioned it, how they built that squad, signed a few
02:06top European contenders and made their way into the Conference League. Then it doesn't
02:11all quite go to plan in terms of going incredibly far in that, but then they make the immediate
02:16jump to the Champions League. Their business definitely correlated with that, with some
02:20more top signings and reinvestment in the squad. How much further can they go? Obviously,
02:26they've attracted the likes of Marcus Rashford, Marco Sancho. These star players are now coming
02:31to Villa Park. We've mentioned Ian Rais-Paul before. A trip to Wembley, they're going to
02:37be on the big screens again. Players will want to be involved at Aston Villa. The summer
02:42could be incredibly interesting for them.
02:45It's incredible, really, how much Unai Emery has achieved in such a short period of time.
02:50A lot of the players he's dealing with are still here from when Steven Gerrard was at
02:55the club and they're in a relegation battle. I believe eight of the starters in the recent
02:59Champions League game have been there under Steven Gerrard. Amazing, really, what he's
03:03been able to do. Obviously, as you mentioned, Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, these are
03:08two very marquee signings. Probably the biggest name signing since Philippe Coutinho came
03:12through the door. They both made a fantastic start. Marco Asensio, in particular, scoring
03:18seven goals in his first eight games, matching his tally from his time at PSG already. I
03:23think he had nearly 50 games in a PSG shirt. Rashford, he's got four assists, all of which
03:29have been for Asensio. There is a £40m option to buy Rashford from Manchester United permanently
03:34in the summer. I'm expecting Villa will probably take that up, but it really does depend on
03:39his wage demands. Currently on £325,000 a week at Man United, Villa paying about 75%
03:46of that. I don't think they'd be willing to pay more than £225,000, £250,000 a week,
03:52and that's probably pushing it even still. They've only done it for this short period
03:56because it's for only six months, so we'll see what happens. With Asensio, I think it's
04:00a bit of a different situation, of course. There's no option to buy him, but he only
04:04has 12 months left on his PSG contract come the summer. I think PSG are quite happy to
04:09let him go either on another loan deal or permanently for a cut price fee, so be interested
04:14to see where Villa go there. In terms of other additions, I think they'll definitely look
04:17at the possibility of signing Axel de Zassi permanently from Chelsea. They've got him
04:22for £5m on loan for the rest of the season. Chelsea are open to selling him in the summer.
04:26There'll be other defensive targets looked at, no doubt, as well. Emery does want to
04:31have a proper centre-back pairing going forward. I know Konza and Paulo Torres have been great
04:35together, but when Paulo Torres has been injured, Tyrone Mings, although he's had an
04:40amazing performance here and there, hasn't quite been that consistent force, especially
04:44with his fitness. There will be more defensive additions, no doubt. Villa can then really
04:49push on to try and become a proper force in the Champions League. Hopefully they can achieve
04:53that qualification for next season. It's amazing to see how far they could get in the transfer
04:57market.
04:58Charlie, just on Ollie Watkins specifically. He had an unbelievable campaign individually
05:07last season. He's still hit the heights, he's still scored a number of goals, he's played
05:12a lot of football already at this stage. The headlines haven't really been towards him.
05:17What's been the change in that? Has there been a change in system that has focused on
05:22other players? Because Ollie Watkins has still been good for Villa, but maybe not the unbelievable
05:28player that he was 12 months ago.
05:31He's not quite hit the same heights as last season. I think his form has been a bit patchy.
05:36It didn't help that he came back from the Euros and he didn't have a proper summer,
05:39he didn't have a proper pre-season either. It took him a little while to get back up
05:42to speed, but he's still been in great form considering. I think if it wasn't for last
05:47year, you'd be saying that he's having a fantastic campaign, he should definitely be in the England
05:51squad etc. etc. The only reason he's not with the England squad is because of an injury
05:55he picked up just before the international break. Potentially it's good for him to go
05:59under the radar, the pressure going off his shoulders. Rashford Asensio could be in the
06:03limelight for a bit longer and then maybe towards the end of the season Watkins can
06:06score some vital goals to secure Champions League football and all will be forgotten.
06:10I think Villa fans, myself as a journalist, I've definitely got faith that Watkins can
06:14get back to his best.