It's just not worked out for Morgan Sanson and he may be one of those shipped out from B6 this summer... |
| It's only fair to acknowledge that Smith had won more games than he had lost after the first six games of the season and was then sacked after the club's first blip in what has proven to be a season full of red L's across the months.
The fragile mentality of a group of players who have either joined the club from other leagues, under a different manager or haven't quite worked up a relationship with their teammates on the pitch as a result, must be fixed. These are all issues which Gerrard needs to solve, but Villa's problems regarding the rebuild under the 'new' boss aren't as simple as they might seem from the outside.
It's a very real prospect that the club loses - mostly through sales - at least 10, perhaps even 12 first-team players this summer, with plenty due to return from loan, some questioning their futures and others on dwindling contracts. Matt Targett, Keinan Davis, Anwar El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Frederic Guilbert, Jed Steer and Lovre Kalinic are all expected to leave the club after their loan moves end.
There's about £30million plus of sales that could be pumped back into the club's transfer budget, but even if Villa can generate another £40million on top of that with the likes of Douglas Luiz, Morgan Sanson and Bertrand Traore all potentially moving on this summer, all the signs are pointing to another overhaul of players. |
Cameron Archer is expected to be in the Villa first-team plans next season... |
| The good news for Villa is that due to their effective recruitment strategy of buying younger assets and developing them into fine Premier League players, they can recoup sizeable transfer fees when they move on to pastures new, but since 2015/16 when the club was relegated to the Championship, Villa have recruited more than 11 new players on average per season, and 10 on average since gaining promotion back to the Premier League.
It's a cycle which the club must stop if they are to add the sort of quality that can propel them into the European positions, rather than simply adding to the squad in numbers.
It is therefore likely that another rebuild is on the horizon, mainly due to the potential number of outgoings that would seemingly open the door for more incomings, unless Gerrard believes that youngsters Jaden Philogene-Bidace, Cameron Archer, Ben Chrisene, Kerr Smith, Joshua Feeney, Louie Barry, Kaine Kesler and Aaron Ramsey - who will be in and around the first-team picture during pre-season - can make the step up and feature for his first-team set up next term.
Gerrard has already promoted midfielders Tim Iroegbunam and Tommi O'Reilly to his senior team which speaks volumes of his intent to give youth a chance, but his substitutes bench must be strong enough next season with any European-chasing side in need of options from off the bench throughout a long top-flight campaign.
So while Villa will be targeting big-money signings, including Kalvin Phillips and Yves Bissouma - Gerrard, CEO Christian Purslow and sporting director Johan Lange must make absolutely sure that their recruitment is spot on to not only boost the club's chances of finishing in and around the top seven next season, but also end a cycle of rebuilds which will eventually catch up with the club. |
