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• BBC
• Wed Apr 2 2025

Aston Villa and manager Unai Emery are reaping the rewards for bucking the trend that states the January transfer window is high risk and rarely offers value.

If proof were needed, it came in the vital 3-0 win at Brighton that pushed Villa towards the Premier League's top four - with an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Wembley and a Champions League quarter-final with Paris St-Germain already on a packed agenda.

Villa's second-half goals all came from players who arrived at the club in January, the perfect advert for a fiercely ambitious manager in Emery and the progressive thinking of co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

Marcus Rashford's renaissance since being rescued from exile at Manchester United was illustrated again when he broke the deadlock with his first Premier League goal for Villa, following his first strikes for the club in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final win at Preston North End,

Marco Asensio, on loan from PSG, doubled the lead with 12 minutes left before Donyell Malen, a ?19m January acquisition from Borussia Dortmund, put the icing on the cake in front of Villa's ecstatic supporters right at the end of 10 minutes of added time.

Rashford may have claimed most of the spotlight with his re-emergence from the Old Trafford wilderness, but the experienced Asensio has had even more impact and provides Villa and Emery with a close acquaintance with the highest prizes at former club Real Madrid.