Any team that loses their two key players will be expected to struggle. When that side finished just one place above the relegation zone in the previous season, they will be tipped for the drop. That’s the scenario Aston Villa find themselves in, having lost their top scorer from the past three seasons, Christian Benteke, and their player of the season from the past two, Fabian Delph. That there is a slightly unnerving sense of optimism surrounding the club before what is set to be their first full season under Tim Sherwood may be confusing to some. The fact of the matter is, however, that Villa have diced with death for too long and were in desperate need of an overhaul.

Losing key players may not have been the ideal way to force Randy Lerner’s hand in the transfer market, with the American owner still looking to sell the club, but it has restored a sense of excitement before of the upcoming campaign. Believe it or not, Aston Villa are well placed to be the surprise package of the Premier League.

The reinvestment of funds accrued from the sales of Benteke and Delph were always going to be key and Villa’s approach has caught many by surprise. Following in the footsteps of Newcastle United – who had some degree of success with the strategy before their spectacular collapse last season – Villa seem to have scouted extensively in Ligue 1. The new approach follows the arrival of former Arsenal board members Tom Fox, as CEO, and Hendrik Almstadt, as their first ever director of football.

Idrissa Gueye. Infographic: WhoScored Photograph: Infographic: WhoScored

The signings of Idrissa Gueye, Jordan Amavi and Jordan Ayew – who join Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair and Mark Bunn at the club – have given fans cause for excitement. The club will reportedly tie up a deal for another midfielder, and their third Jordan of the summer, in the form of Nantes midfielder Jordan Veretout. With versatile defender José Ángel Crespo also putting pen to paper and controversial frontman Emmanuel Adebayor tipped to sign before the end of the week, it will be interesting to see how Sherwood lines up his team this season.

Of the new arrivals from France’s top flight, Gueye looks to be the most ready-made for the Premier League. The Lille midfielder’s high-energy approach makes him an ideal replacement for Delph. The announcement of his arrival came before the former captain’s unexpected decision to stay at the club; a decision that stuck for just six days.

The two are comparable in a number of ways. They have similar frames and are both very athletic, but where Delph was given more of an attacking licence under Sherwood, Gueye will add extra bite to the midfield. The 25-year-old Senegal international was Lille’s star performer last season, earning a higher rating than any of his regular team-mates (7.41). With a solid 86.4% pass accuracy from 63.6 passes per game, he is well equipped to make the transition to the Premier League both technically and physically.

Veretout, at just 22, is understandably more of a raw talent. Nevertheless the Under-20 World Cup winner, fielded in a midfield alongside Paul Pogba and Geoffrey Kondogbia for France in 2013, is the talisman for an improving Nantes side. With a more modest rating of 7.07 last season, that score was still only just shy of Delph’s 7.08 and a significant advance on Tom Cleverley’s lowly 6.64.

Veretout is more adventurous than Gueye and would probably be given more of an attacking role. He scored seven goals and provided six assists last season, and is capable of driving forward with the ball and carving out goalscoring opportunities. His average of two key passes per game in 2014-15 was significantly better than any Villa player.

Amavi looks set to be the solution to a long-standing issue at left-back, where he should usurp Aly Cissokho and Kieran Richardson in the ranks. The 21-year-old had a sensational campaign with Nice last season, earning a place in our Ligue 1 team of the season courtesy of a rating (7.74), which was second only to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in France’s top tier. He made more interceptions (165) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues, always looks to play on the front foot and is able to instigate attacks from deep.

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The signing of Ayew from Lorient perhaps represents the biggest gamble for Villa, with most observers in France suggesting that they were forced to pay over the odds for the Ghana international. He may have ended the 2014-15 campaign with a respectable 12 goals, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. Given that Ayew attempted the second most shots in the league (112), a conversion rate of 10.7% was pretty weak. The 23-year-old was dispossessed (four times per game) and conceded possession due to a poor touch (3.8) more often than any other player in Europe’s top leagues.

He’s still very young and has plenty of potential but Ayew is far from the finished article and may both frustrate and delight in equal measure. The fact that a loan move for Adebayor is picking up pace comes as little surprise then, with the experienced striker likely to lead the line and mentor his junior team-mate in the process.

If, as expected, Villa complete the signings of Veretout and Adebayor in the coming days, Sherwood has every right to be happy with his lot and will be aiming to offload any deadwood before dipping into the market again. It will be a new-look side regardless, and a real departure from the days of Paul Lambert. That, for Villa fans, is just what the doctor ordered, even if it means losing the players that kept the club afloat under the former manager.



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