The perfect £55m Aston Villa signing that could instantly hand Unai Emery a new tactical weapon

It’s been five years since Atlético Madrid signed João Félix for £113 million from Benfica, and still, we await the golden boy of Portuguese football to take the world by storm and show why he was regarded as the next big thing when he first broke through the ranks in his homeland.

The last two seasons have been incredibly turbulent. He spent the second half of the 2022/2023 season at Chelsea and then last season at Barcelona both on loan. As of the time of writing this piece, he’s training alone at Atlético Madrid, as he’s not considered a key member of the squad this season.

Reports in Spain say the club will accept a fee in the region of £55million for him. Aston Villa, who have Champions League football and a manager that most top professionals appreciate, are one of the leading teams looking at him. And that is the kind of move that could help him rediscover his form, confidence, and verve.

The Midlands club have made seven signings, but they have lost Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, who both contributed with 14 goal involvements in the league last season. Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea, Samuel Iling-Junior, Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen, Jaden Philogene, and Amadou Onana have all joined Emery's squad so far this summer.

Dobbin has since signed for West Brom on loan, and Emery will also be patient with Juventus arrivals Barrenechea and Iling-Junior. Maatsen and Onana will be regulars in the first XI next season, while Barkley and Philogene will fight for their place in the side as Villa looks forward to another exciting Premier League season as well as a Champions League campaign.

So there is space for someone with the unique talent of Félix to be brought in, and there are reasons why he could genuinely do well. First, his back is against the wall, and he needs to live up to his potential at some point. Those who watched Euro 2024 would have seen his face after he missed the crucial penalty as Portugal crashed out of the tournament - he needs a fresh start, and the Premier League and Champions League provide the best platform.

For Villa and Unai Emery, this is the perfect tactical tool to have: a player who can play as a 10, or as an 8 but with a strong sense of scoring or assisting, or even in tight games, he can be used as a false nine.

He has the skill set, there is no doubt about that. What he needs now is the fertile ground for its application, and last season, Villa showed that under Emery, they can be a match for any team in the league. Both parties have something to gain from this. The Villa team is crying out for a player with the technical ability of Félix, while he needs a team playing at the highest level on all fronts to prove that the last two seasons were just a difficult passing phase.

This will be the kind of signing that also sends a message to rivals that Villa really mean business. They’ve got three weeks to sort that out, with just the £55m outlay currently separating them from a potentially stunning transfer coup.