Emi Buendia

[SamTheMouse]

I think he'll be off at the end of the season. There are younger players who can fulfil the squad role he will otherwise be performing for us.

[Monty]

I think he'll be off at the end of the season. There are younger players who can fulfil the squad role he will otherwise be performing for us.

Unless some spectacular turnaround happens you can see him being upgraded. He's a good player, but probably not consistently good enough for where we want to go.

[Ian.]

It’s a shame as just before the injury he probably would have been an extremely useful asset.

I do also wonder if we’ve surpassed him now.

[Drummond]

He's had a season out injured, before that he was flying under Emery. I think he's trying all sorts (as was Bailey on Wednesday) and a lot isn't coming off. If he chills a bit he'll be fine.

[Risso]

He's had a season out injured, before that he was flying under Emery. I think he's trying all sorts (as was Bailey on Wednesday) and a lot isn't coming off. If he chills a bit he'll be fine.

I just can’t see him getting enough playing time to be honest. Don’t think he’ll be happy with the very occasional sub role.

[Percy McCarthy]

I think he’ll be fine. Like Duran, he’s the perfect busy bundle of energy to give defenders nightmares towards the end of games. We’re a fifty-odd games a season club at the moment, we need subs capable of getting into the game and raising the tempo like he often did, even under Gerrard.

[Dante Lavelli]

He needs this season to get his mojo back.  The problem is I think his contract expires soon after so there’s a risk we rejuvenate him but he leaves for free in 18-months.  The alternative is to sell him sooner but at a loss.

It’s a conundrum, as he’s a great player, thankfully I trust Emery to make the right decision.

[DrGonzo]

If we rejuvenate him there'll be a new contract before the season ends, if not, adios Emi B!  I like his hustle, rather like J Mac he's got a touch of the terrier about him.  He breaks the lines and pops up usefully in the box in spaces that are tricky to defend.

[SaddVillan]

This is by Jacob Tanswell in The Athletic. IMO, it's a pretty fair summary of the dilemma that both Emi and the club find themselves in.

Looking back getting an ACL just before last season seems to have been a  sliding doors moment for Emi. And looking forward it seems to me that the door on his career at Villa Park is closing.

A great shame, because he comes across as a genuinely nice guy who pre-season last year looked as if he was going to play an important role for us.

EMILIANO BUENDIA'S 37 MINUTES: WHERE NEXT FOR HIS ASTON VILLA CAREER

Six.

One.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Six.

Three.

Add the seven numbers together and you get how many minutes Emiliano Buendia has played in the Premier League this season. Thirty-seven in total — just three per cent of all available minutes.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has lately offered points of reflection, expressing how “quickly football passes by” and in the case of Buendia, such sentiments can not ring truer. The 27-year-old is stuck in substitution purgatory, waiting and watching Villa achieve new heights.

In the summer of 2021, under Dean Smith and very different times and expectations, Buendia became Villa’s club record signing in a deal worth upwards of £38million and on a five-year contract.

Buendia had spearheaded Norwich City’s promotion from the Championship, registering 31 goal involvements and unsurprisingly being named the division’s player of the season. Despite a solitary goal in the one and only year he had spent in the Premier League, there were few doubts as to whether his quality would translate to a higher level this time. Arsenal made overtures and given other interest around him, Villa regarded his acquisition a significant coup.

His first two years were steady without being stunning. He played regularly — Buendia was involved in every game of the 2022-23 campaign — but was striving for that standalone and seminal moment. Emery’s arrival midway through that season was a critical point in several players’ careers where they yearned to prove themselves in a higher class. Buendia arguably embodied that school of thought more than any other.

Emery’s first pre-season coincided with Buendia feeling in what he felt was his best rhythm since joining. He scored three goals and contributed one assist, particularly clicking into gear on the tour of the U.S. In all likelihood, his form would have warranted a starting berth in the opening-day fixture away at Newcastle United.

In the final minutes of training on the Wednesday prior, Buendia twisted awkwardly and fell. Villa feared the worst and within 24 hours, they learned he had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury. He was ruled out for a season that was set to begin two days later.

“Before Emi got injured, he was at a great level,” said a source close to Buendia. “His performance in the last friendly against Valencia was impressive and in the next training session after, he got injured.”

The timing of the injury was excruciating. Villa’s standout performer in pre-season had seen his career instantaneously implode at a critical juncture in proving himself to Emery. “It was the worst injury for the player,” said the Spaniard the following day.

Having another player alongside him at a similar stage of the process — Buendia and Tyrone Mings had their respective ACL surgeries on the same day — was beneficial in avoiding senses of isolation.

Still, Buendia has recounted periods where he would be stuck inside the gym and watch his team-mates go out to train. It was an insular experience and although he completed a stage of his recovery in Dubai and then Spain, where he worked with his personal trainer Adolfo Madrid, Buendia preferred to stay close to the first-team environment. It hurt that he could not contribute to qualifying for the Champions League last season and, deep down, knowing he was at risk of Villa’s progress passing him by.

The Argentina international’s surgery was performed by Andy Williams, a renowned ACL surgeon who specialises in sports-related knee ligament problems. He forged a close relationship with physiotherapist Igor de Fuentes Saavedra, who Emery hired in July 2023, which owed to how long they spent together.

The end of last season tallied with Buendia’s reintegration into training. Rebuilding trust in his body was not an issue and he did not experience any ill effects after sessions. Over the summer, he decided against going on holiday, opting to train daily to condition himself robustly for pre-season.

Buendia fielded interest from Europe and in England, specifically Leeds United who have his former Norwich manager Daniel Farke in charge, though any talks failed to get off the ground with neither the player nor Villa wanting to part ways.

The underlying issue has not been fitness or consequential injuries, but adjusting to the sharpness required of Emery’s training. The onus has been on Buendia, operating as a No 10 in Emery’s system — between the lines and often in the most congested and quickest area on the pitch — to make decisions on the ball sooner, while retaining the ability to keep possession in tight pockets of space.

“Buendia is playing minutes, but he has to show he is progressively getting better,” said Emery in a press conference last week. “He is trying to feel better, trying to get minutes and confidence and performances at the level we want. But he’s working hard. He’s an important player for us when he’s getting the level he had before he was injured.”

Simple drills to fine-tune technique have helped and performances in training are gradually improving. He has, however, not been at the level required to fully restore Emery’s trust and his omissions, in the starting XI and as a viable option off the
 bench, have been telling.

Buendia is viewed as the alternative to Morgan Rogers in playing as a second forward or as a left No 10. In recent months, Rogers has been internally viewed as approaching a state of fatigue due to his workload and number of games for club and country. It has impacted his form and capacity to last the course of matches.

Regardless, Rogers has still started every league fixture this term ahead of Buendia.

“If he gets minutes, he can get confidence,” said Emery. “When he’s (only) playing a few minutes in each match, it is because of how (John) McGinn and Rogers are performing, because the positions they are playing are the positions of Emi Buendia and (Jacob) Ramsey as well, when he’s available.”

Buendia has been available for every game across all competitions and yet has only featured in 11 of them. His two starts have been in the Carabao Cup and the average time he spends on the pitch after coming on as a substitute is fewer than six minutes. It is perhaps an indictment of how little he expects to come on that he has, on occasions, been busy signing autographs for nearby supporters instead of warming up on the sidelines at Villa Park.

Eleven minutes after the final whistle in the 1-0 victory against Southampton, Buendia was changed and leaving Villa Park. He remains patient and is focused on being a success at Villa, but knows the current situation is not sustainable. A potential loan move in January is unlikely, with the hope — rather than expectation — being that he contributes later on in the campaign, otherwise a summer move will be on the cards.

He is well-liked among team-mates and has helped fellow Spanish-speaking players, such as Pau Torres, settle in the Midlands. Patience, though, is wearing thin and Buendia knows he needs to make up for lost time. The question is whether he can do that at Villa or if luck and the team itself have passed him by.

[Demitri_C]

His limited game time speaks volumes for me. He will be moved on in summer i think

[john e]

Buendia loves the club, he was the most excited of all the players on the pitch when Barkleys goal went in genuinely thrilled

and I’ve said before I heard he attended every villa match home and away including European games whilst he was in recovery

[Hookeysmith]

Buendia loves the club, he was the most excited of all the players on the pitch when Barkleys goal went in genuinely thrilled

and I’ve said before I heard he attended every villa match home and away including European games whilst he was in recovery

When  you consider some of the absolute wankers we have had associated with the club, yes i am looking at you tossers Richards and co, then fair play to him. The issue is there is no room for sentiment in football and i think if he is not breaking through by end of this season then i also thinkl it is bye.

Pity we could not loan him out in Jan and maybe bring back one of our Juventus kids?

[Risso]

If he doesn't get any decent playing time over the next two to three weeks, with lots of matches, both Ramsey and Bailey out injured and JPB being utterly hopeless, then I think it's probably fair to say he's never going to.

[Dave]

If he doesn't get any decent playing time over the next two to three weeks, with lots of matches, both Ramsey and Bailey out injured and JPB being utterly hopeless, then I think it's probably fair to say he's never going to.

Yep.

That "loan move in January is unlikely" seems a bit odd. Surely if the plan is to move him on, getting 70-80 minutes a week for half a season for Leicester or  Ipswich is going to give us a higher value in the summer than if he's getting three minutes at the end of games for us?

[PeterWithe]

Seems spot on that article, he's a likeable bloke but I've never quite warmed to him as a player.