Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has voiced his frustration that the summer transfer window doesn’t end before the start of the season as some of his players remain in the dark over their futures heading into the opening game against West Ham at the London Stadium.
Diego Carlos is one of the players in Emery’s squad who could be on the move before deadline day on Friday, August 30. The 31-year-old will be allowed to leave if the club’s valuation of him is met, but Fulham’s offer earlier this month was turned down.
Carlos, like a few other players in Emery’s squad can’t be fully concentrated at the job in hand given the doubts about their respective futures. Emery insists that isn’t the case and said that Carlos is “completely with us” on Friday afternoon in his press conference.
Jhon Duran has also been unsettled over the summer and while there is still a chance that he could depart – if Villa’s big valuation is met – is his head in the right place heading into the new season? The 20-year-old wanted a move to West Ham last month, but it never materialised.
If he does stay, Villa will play two tricky games against West Ham and then Arsenal before the window shuts. It’s hard to disagree with Emery’s opinion that the window should be closed before a ball is kicked. Clubs have long enough to prepare for the window and do not need a couple of competitive games to work out where they might need more support.
“I do not agree with the decision to finish the transfer window until August 30, because we will play three matches in that time,” Emery said.
“I prefer when we are starting the league that the transfer window ends, but of course, there are a lot of people with the responsibility to decide about it. It is not now because three or four years ago, maybe five, in the Premier League they decided to end it at the beginning of the season.
“But again, they recover the same situation in all of the leagues in Europe and the world. They decided to close it at the end of August.
“It is not just because I am thinking about it, I think that everyone was thinking about it when the league is starting and you are playing one or two or three matches and one of them is leaving and they are playing the same league for different clubs. I think it is not the best but I accept it of course and I am going to try and work in the last two weeks trying to be alert for everything.”
Indeed, back in 2017, the summer transfer window shut before the start of the new season after 14 Premier League clubs voted in favour of the amendment, the minimum needed for the plans to be approved.
It was given the seal of approval by legendary managers Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson at the time.
“It’s important that we close all that stuff before the championship starts,” said former Arsenal boss Wenger. “Players have no clarity. Are they in? Are they out? Will they be tapped up on the afternoon of a game? It’s not the way to work.”
Ferguson agreed, saying: “The recommendation we look at is to close the window before the season starts, so everyone knows which players they’ve got and aren’t waiting to see what the first results are going to be.
“I think strong management is crucial in this situation. Part of your job as a coach also is to educate your players’ character so they have a responsibility to what they’re doing.”
Earlier this week, current Southampton manager Russell Martin also put on record his frustration that the window remains open two games into the campaign. At the other end of the table, clubs looking to remain in the division face the prospect of losing players to teams with better resources, leaving little to no time to find replacements.
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