Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says that the players signed in January can help the club complete on all fronts after beating Chelsea on Saturday night.
The Midlands outfit were busy in the transfer market this winter, acquiring Marcus Rashford, Marcos Asensio and Axel Disasi on loan deals, while Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia arrived on permanent deals.
All of them aside from Disasi, who was blocked from facing his parent club, played a part in this weekend’s win over the Blues, but none more so than Rashford and Asensio.
The Manchester United loanee set up the Spaniard twice in the second half as Villa came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at home and move them up to seventh in the Premier League table.
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Unai Emery lauds ‘fantastic’ Aston Villa signings
The moves are already paying dividends and Emery believe they will have a positive impact on the club’s season as they look to far in the Uefa Champions League and FA Cup.
“We did it because we were thinking we had the necessity to improve the squad and have more players helping what we have now,” he said.
“We want to be in the top five, six, seven in the league. Try to go big in the FA Cup and Champions League.
“We signed those players to improve it and progressively try to adapt quick – we are doing a lot of meetings and tactical work.
“We’re playing a lot of matches which helps with getting good information. And then on the field trying to adapt quick, players impacted the second half. It was fantastic.”
Villa are now just one point behind Chelsea in the Premier League table and two off the top four.
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