Deadline Day Double: Villa Land Mbaye and Harwood-Bellis as Emery's Summer Revolution Reaches Ten Signings

Aston Villa pushed their summer spending spree into double figures on deadline day, completing deals for teenage PSG winger Ibrahim Mbaye and Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis as Unai Emery declared himself satisfied with one of the most dramatic squad overhauls in recent Premier League memory. The £47m capture of 18-year-old Mbaye and the £25m arrival of Harwood-Bellis represented signings number nine and ten of a chaotic window in which Villa ripped up the blueprint that delivered Champions League qualification in two of the past three seasons and May's Europa League triumph in Istanbul — the club's first major silverware in three decades. The upheaval has been staggering. Villa banked more than £300m by selling nine players, six of whom started that European final. Morgan Rogers and Emililio Martínez departed for Chelsea, while Ollie Watkins rejected a new contract and left for Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in a £50m deal. Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne also moved on. Watkins's exit prompted Villa to bring in Nicolas Jackson for an initial £47.5m, a fee that could balloon to a club-record £65m. That landmark had already been matched by Johan Manzambi, the £52m Switzerland midfielder signed from Freiburg, though he is yet to feature as he recovers from a knee injury suffered at the World Cup. Despite defeats in both of Villa's opening league fixtures — including Monday's narrow 1-0 home loss to Arsenal — Emery remained defiantly optimistic about the direction of travel. "We are happy how we are closing the transfer window," the Villa manager said. "We are not regretting anything and the players who are joining are players that should be enough to rebuild the team with the structure we want. I think we replaced the players as we planned." One newcomer already under the spotlight is goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, the £30m signing from Parma who made his debut against Arsenal after a proposed move to PSG collapsed late in negotiations. The 24-year-old Japanese shot-stopper accepts that filling the gloves of World Cup winner Martínez is a daunting task. "It is not easy to play after him but I want to help the team and be like him," Suzuki said. "I am really looking forward to the Champions League but before that, I want a first Premier League win to get some momentum." Elsewhere on a busy deadline day, Gabriel Jesus completed his switch from Arsenal to Barcelona, while Liverpool's Harvey Elliott joined Valencia on a season-long loan. This article is based on reporting by Guardian Football.