Aston Villa make unwanted English football history after six-player exodus

Aston Villa’s extraordinary summer rebuild has now produced an unwanted piece of English football history, with six starters from May’s Europa League-winning side having left Villa Park just months after lifting the trophy.

Unai Emery celebrated Villa’s first European trophy in 44 years after a 3-0 victory over Freiburg in Istanbul, but the team preparing for the new Premier League season looks dramatically different.

The Times reports that Villa are the first English club to lose six players from a European trophy-winning starting XI before the following campaign.

That figure is reportedly double the previous highest total.

Aston Villa in crisis?

I don't see it, even after the 4-0 defeat to Brighton and the departure of over half of their XI (almost all of which are key players).

They have replaced aging players with players with top potential + players entering their prime whilst breaking even or… pic.twitter.com/78QoZUDTGE

— EBL (@EBL2017) August 28, 2026

Six Aston Villa starters have now gone

The scale of the transformation is remarkable.

Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins all started the Europa League final.

All six have now left.

It completes a scenario ReadAstonVilla warned was possible earlier in August, when Villa’s 93-day rebuild threatened to remove six Europa League final starters.

At that point several of those departures were still unresolved.

They are no longer hypothetical.

Watkins became the latest major name to leave after completing his £51million transfer to Al-Hilal, ending a six-year Villa career in which he became the club’s record Premier League goalscorer.

Reuters confirmed Watkins has signed a three-year contract with Al-Hilal, following Martinez’s departure for Chelsea and Konsa’s move to Arsenal.

Unai Emery faces huge Aston Villa rebuild

Villa have not simply allowed the squad to shrink.

Nicolas Jackson, Johan Manzambi, Leon Goretzka, João Gomes, Zion Suzuki and Matteo Ruggeri are among the significant additions made during a remarkable transfer window.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis is also closing in on a move from Southampton after Villa finally reached an agreement following two rejected bids.

But replacing players individually is different from replacing the understanding built by a successful team.

The Times estimates Villa have raised more than £250m through the departures of several major players, leaving Emery to integrate a substantially different group while continuing to compete domestically and in the Champions League.

Villa’s opening 4-0 defeat at Brighton demonstrated how difficult that process could become.

Emery has nevertheless refused to lower expectations.

The Villa manager has already insisted his side cannot treat the upheaval as an excuse for a lengthy transition period.

The numbers now illustrate exactly how significant his challenge is.

Just months after producing one of the greatest nights in Villa’s modern history, more than half of the starting XI responsible for it has gone.