Aston Villa: Why Unai Emery can "get best" from Alejandro Garnacho after £43m Chelsea agreement

Aston Villa new boy Alejandro Garnacho possesses "bags of ability" and could become the best version of himself under Unai Emery, a former Lions coach has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The former Manchester United winger made the move to the West Midlands earlier in July, joining Aston Villa on a season-long loan from Chelsea, which will become permanent for around £43m next summer if certain conditions are met.

Garnacho's first Premier League season with Chelsea was largely forgettable, as the Argentine only managed one goal and four assists, although he came up with a respectable eight goals across all competitions.

However, the 22-year-old now has to try to fill the boots of Morgan Rogers, who moved in the opposite direction for £117m, as Chelsea made the Englishman the most expensive British footballer in history.

Nevertheless, Gary McAllister - who served as Villa's assistant manager in two separate spells from 2010-11 and 2021-22 - has a hunch that Garnacho could excel under Emery, so long as he puts the hours in.

Why Unai Emery could get best out of Alejandro Garnacho at Aston Villa

"Bringing in Garnacho, he’s a player who undoubtedly has a lot of talent and a lot of ability," McAllister said. "No disrespect, but that’s not enough to replace Rogers.

"You need to show more than just having ability. He’s got to work his socks off, work for his teammates and work for the team. I think Unai Emery is very much along the lines of there being no individuals.

"He likes individual players who can win games and create moments, but watching Unai Emery’s teams, they’re teams.

"Garnacho has bags of ability. He’s had two or three big opportunities at massive clubs, and they don’t come much bigger than Villa, so it’s over to him.

"It’s a great opportunity to work for a manager who’s a winner. You hear managers saying they’re winners, but Unai Emery wins things. It might be good for the lad. He’s still young enough. He’s not a boy anymore, but this manager might just get the best out of him."

Garnacho's arrival and Rogers's exit came after Villa were hit with a £19.4m fine by UEFA for a "significant" financial breach in 2025, as the Lions broke the governing body's squad-cost rule.

While most of Villa's financial penalty - £12.9m - is suspended, the West Midlands outfit have had to be savvy in the transfer market and have in fact registered the second-lowest net spend of all 2025-26 Premier League clubs over the last three seasons, at -£62m.

Have Aston Villa been 'punished the most' in transfer market?

Villa have also moved on Youri Tielemans, Moussa Diaby, Jacob Ramsey, Jhon Duran and Douglas Luiz for big money in that time, and McAllister believes that fans will feel particularly hard done by in the transfer market.

"I just don’t think it’s been good for Aston Villa because there are two owners there who really want to invest in the club, and then they’ve had to sell Tielemans as well," McAllister added.

"But I still scratch my head about how you work out how much you’re allowed to spend and how much, if you spend over that, you’re going to lose points. It’s really difficult to understand.

"Villa fans will be thinking they’ve probably been punished the hardest. Newcastle as well, owners who want to spend but seem to be selling their best players to make moves in the market.

"So, it’s tough because I think Tielemans and Rogers were outstanding for Villa and Unai Emery. I think when Unai arrived, Tielemans’s game jumped. Certainly, when you look at Morgan Rogers, was it two or three seasons ago that he was playing at Middlesbrough? He’s a very exciting, exciting player, and he’s a big loss to Villa."

Aston Villa have also been linked with a second Chelsea player in Nicolas Jackson - whom they would have to sign permanently due to Garnacho's loan - and Xabi Alonso dropped a hint on the striker's Blues future earlier on Friday.

Gary McAllister was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of Lottoland, who offer the latest football betting odds.