How will Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio fit in at Aston Villa

A look at the new faces at Villa Park…

Transcript

00:00Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and obviously the January window coming to an end, a quite

00:07incredible window for Aston Villa. We just discussed how strange but incredible it actually

00:12was for them and if you'd have looked at seven or eight years ago and said this and the likes

00:18of Rashford and Asenjo were signing for Aston Villa, I don't think many would have really

00:22believed you with the position Villa were obviously in back then as well. How do those

00:28two fit into this side? Obviously they are stars in their own right. Asenjo, multiple

00:33Champions League winners, played at the very, very top level. He's going to have really

00:37high expectations and then on the flip side of that, Marcus Rashford can be one of the

00:42best strikers in the world as he proved just a couple of seasons ago around this time of

00:47the year as well where he was scoring relentlessly for Manchester United. What sort of impact

00:52will they have on Emery's side? Will Emery stand for any antics from the likes of Rashford

00:58as well? What's the situation regarding these two players?

01:02Yes, it's such an exciting time for Aston Villa supporters. Signing two players who've

01:07been world beaters at their best. Asenjo, as you mentioned, he's won three Champions

01:11League titles. Having that kind of pedigree in the dressing room is a massive boost. I

01:15think Philippe Coutinho was the last signing of this kind of level along with Rashford

01:20as well. Both such huge names coming to Villa Park. I think Unai Emery will work well with

01:25Rashford. It's a bit of an unpopular opinion perhaps, but he just works so well with those

01:30players that are on the fringes at times and need a bit more confidence to come back into

01:34things. We've seen that with Jacob Ramsey. John Durham was a difficult character to work

01:38with. Even Watkins to an extent has had times where his finishing has not been at his best,

01:43but Emery's worked with him and he's improved him. Just little things of how he is on the

01:47half turn, how he gets past defenders, I think we'll see a massive difference for

01:52Rashford. Asenjo, he's not been playing as much football this year for PSG. So many options

01:57in that forward line that him being at Villa should give him that necessary game time.

02:01It's just so exciting where they'll fit in. I think Rashford potentially could make his

02:06debut against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. Ollie Watkins is out with a minor injury,

02:11so potentially gives you opportunity for him to play. Asenjo will probably rotate in for

02:17the likes of Morgan Rodgers, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.

02:23Just on that sort of race for the top four spots, it seems at times that Villa have gotten

02:27lucky with the likes of Bournemouth playing well, Newcastle playing well again, Chelsea

02:31back to form and Fulham also creeping well and Brighton as well around them. That race

02:37for top four seems a real tough one this season. Where can you see Aston Villa ending up?

02:43I can see them definitely ending up on the fringes of the top four or potentially inside

02:47of it. I think the thing that will benefit them this year is the likelihood of fifth

02:51place being enough, the Champions League with the co-efficiency and there being so many

02:55English teams progressing in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League as

02:59well. It is pretty much in England's hands to get that fifth place position. Of course,

03:04if Villa go and win the Champions League, I think that's a big dream, a big ambition,

03:08one that's probably not going to happen. But that is another route in to Europe's most

03:12elite competition, so plenty of opportunities there. Even if it's Europa League, it's still

03:17a massive step in the right direction to be a consistent European outfit. It's something

03:21Unai Emery has dreamed of ever since he arrived through the door and it's becoming a reality.