Although Unai Emery has his Aston Villa side flying high in the Premier League, the Spaniard still has his fair share of problems at Villa Park.
For a start, Football Insider are reporting that summer signing from Leicester City, Youri Tielemans, already wants to leave the club because of a lack of first-team action.
Another player in Jhon Jader Duran could also be forgiven for thinking that Emery’s cold shoulder treatment would suggest the Colombian doesn’t really have a future at Villa Park either.
According to WhoScored, Duran, who signed for the club in January, has participated in 11 matches during 2023/24, but hasn’t played 90 minutes in any of them.
In fact, the sum total of the minutes that he’s played in those 11 games across all competitions is a measly 114 – less than one and a half full matches.
It’s perhaps with that in mind that Colombia coach, Nestor Lorenzo, has weighed in with his two penneth on the situation.
“When he plays on the right, he is a player you like because he plays inwards more than outwards. He is a player who can play in either position eventually,” he was quoted as saying by AS.
“At Aston Villa he has a lot of competition, a lot of players in his position and he is not playing as much as he deserves, I hope he becomes a starter soon.”
From Emery’s point of view, he can’t allow his stubbornness to get in the way of what could end up being a fantastic season for the Villains.
Even if their charge up the Premier League tails off, there’s every chance of a decent crack at the Europa Conference League, however, the manager will need all of his players onside if he wants to succeed.