Rating every player Aston Villa signed this season - including 2/10 disaster and genius free transfer
Aston Villa racked up a relatively modest transfer spend for the 2025/26 campaign
Aston Villa’s 2025/26 season has been, quite frankly, bonkers. After a gruelling, nine-match pre-season, Unai Emery’s failed to win their first six games of the campaign across all competitions, having to wait until late September to claim their first Premier League victory. The knives even began to sharpen for Emery, as some fans began to express frustrations with the dire run of form.
The side then went from one extreme to the other, wining eleven matches in a row across all competitions and putting themselves firmly in the title race ahead of the new year. Meanwhile, Emery’s men blasted their way through the Europa League group stage with ease, winning seven of their eight matches.
After falling into a run of more inconsistent form, the Villans look set to end the season by securing Champions League football for 2026/27 - be it from a top five finish in the Premier League, or from winning the Europa League. They take on Freiburg in the final of the latter next week.
As the chaotic campaign draws to a dramatic close, we’ve rated every player Aston Villa signed over the past two transfer windows. New boys Yasin Oscan, Zepiqueno Redmond, Fletcher Boyd, Mohamed Kone, Alysson and Brian Madjo won’t be judged, as they either went out on loan, have played less than five matches, or have joined up with the youth sides.
Rating every Aston Villa signing this season - Bizot to Lindeolf
Marco Bizot: £500k from Brest - 7/10. We’ll never tire of Emery’s iconic interview where, faced with multiple questions regarding Emi Martinez’s absence, proceeded to repeatedly utter the name of his replacement, Marco Bizot. The Dutch stopper has been a reliable backup option when required this season, putting in stellar displays against the likes of Feyenoord, Bologna and Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
Evann Guessand: £26m from OGC Nice - 5/10. Villa needed to sharpen their attacking threat over the summer months, and the Ivory Coast international arrived in August to try and do just that. However, he failed to do the job, and scored just two Europa League goals before being shipped off to Crystal Palace on loan.
Victor Lindelof: free transfer - 7/10. A solid rotation option with bags of top flight experience, brought in without having to pay a transfer fee? That’ll do nicely. The 75-cap Sweden international has played a crucial role in the side’s push for Europa League glory, impressing with his composure on the ball and dominance in the air.
Rating every Aston Villa signing this season - Abraham to Luiz
Tammy Abraham: £18m from Besiktas - 6/10. Signed in January to provide some much needed cover - and indeed competition - for Ollie Watkins, the former Villa loan star returned on a permanent deal seven years later. He’s been filling the role of impact substitute, and has scored two important late Premier League goals - an equaliser against Leeds and a winner against Sunderland.
Harvey Elliott: loan from Liverpool - 2/10. This deal has proven to be a bit of a total embarrassment for Villa. It became known early in the season that, if Elliott played ten Premier League matches, his loan spell would become permanent in a £35m move.
Emery was said to be unwilling to see that much money invested into the England international, and he’s not played a minute since March. Still, he did have that one Carabao Cup goal against Brentford...
Jadon Sancho: loan from Manchester United - 6/10. The ex-Borussia Dortmund gem has had a decent enough loan spell at Villa Park, filling in when required in the Premier League and getting the odd outing in the Europe. Back in March, he had a purple patch of sorts - well, perhaps a splodge is more accurate - when he provided two assists in two games against Lille and West Ham respectively.
Douglas Luiz: loan from Juventus - 6/10: A late January deal saw Villa bring back another familiar face in Luiz who was brought in to - yes, you’ve guessed it - serve as a rotation option. He’s taken the strain off the likes of star man Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans, nipping on from bench for the odd cameo to aid Emery’s side in their struggle against a relentless fixture list.