Unai Emery explains Aston Villa transfer situation after first signing sealed

The 25-year-old Netherlands international last night sealed a £21million switch from Borussia Dortmund with his arrival due to be followed by the departure of fellow winger Jaden Philogene to Ipswich.

Emery revealed Villa could add two or three more players before the deadline with Celta Vigo’s Oscar Mingueza and Sevilla’s Loic Bade their primary targets in defence.

But either deal would likely depend on selling Diego Carlos, whose proposed £10m switch to Fenerbahce is now in doubt.

Emery said: "We are alert and we want to always be ready to improve the squad with the players and, of course, sometimes some players want to leave us for different circumstances as well. 

“We are moving forward with some circumstances like I am telling you from today until the last day of the window.

"If we are changing one player, Malen and Jaden, that’s the first. Maybe two or three players more, we can do another deal of some players leaving and some players joining us."

While Villa are prepared to do what they can to strengthen Emery’s squad, the club is desperate to avoid a repeat of last summer which saw them scrambling to stay within profit and sustainability limits. The Premier League yesterday confirmed no top flight club had breached the margins for the 2023-24 season.

Malen is not eligible for tonight’s Premier League fixture at Everton but could make his debut at Arsenal on Saturday. He previously spent two years with the Gunners academy as a teenager before joining PSV Eindhoven and then Dortmund, where he was part of the team which reached last year’s Champions League final.

Carlos, who came close to joining Fulham last summer, remains sidelined with a minor injury though Jhon Duran is available again after serving a three-match ban.