Aston Villa enjoyed a well-orchestrated summer of business ahead of their first full season with Unai Emery at the helm.
The Villans recruited the Spaniard in October 2022 following the dismissal of Steven Gerrard, and it’s fair to say they haven’t looked back since.
When the former Arsenal boss arrived, the squad he inherited from the ex-Liverpool maestro was sat in 16th place in the Premier League table, hungry to build form and locate a source for progression.
Emery was that source, as he fired Villa to a seventh-place finish and a spot in the Europa Conference League, adding an extra pull to their presentation as a club in the transfer window.
Five new faces made Villa Park their home in the summer, including highly-rated and in-demand forward Moussa Diaby, who saw Emery’s project as an interesting place to progress.
With the four-time Europa League winner in charge of the club, Villa’s ability to replenish the side with star quality has been rectified, however business hasn’t always gone so smoothly in the past.
Rewind to 2015, and Tim Sherwood was hoping to steer his squad away from their relegation-threatening campaign of 2014/15, in which the Midlands side finished 17th.
To make matters worse for the Englishman, the club’s star player Christian Benteke departed that summer, yet the manager seemed to have a solution for his exit.
When did Aston Villa sign Rudy Gestede?
Days after the departure of Benteke, it was announced that Villa had signed Championship sharpshooter Rudy Gestede, in a deal worth a reported £6m.
It was a capture to be celebrated by Villa, as the Benin international was in demand, eyed by West Bromwich Albion, Hull City and Crystal Palace, with Eagles having a bid for the forward rejected in the January window, via Sky Sports.
DEAL DONE: Aston Villa have signed Rudy Gestede for around £6m from Blackburn. 5-year deal. (Source: @AVFCOfficial) pic.twitter.com/rwjDrauluJ — Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) July 31, 2015
Sherwood, meanwhile, was gleaming with his new arrival, relaying that he always “admired” the striker, dubbing him a figure that “certainly knows how to find the back of the net”.
After bidding farewell to Benteke, the Villans were content to have found a new source for goals in Gestede, but not everyone was sold by his arrival.
What was the reaction when Aston Villa signed Rudy Gestede?
Taking into consideration that Villa received a fee of £32.5m from Liverpool in the sale of Benteke, former Arsenal legend and pundit Paul Merson was not impressed by the £6m capture of Gestede to fill the void left by the Belgian.
