Cameron Archer’s return explained as Unai Emery reveals Aston Villa transfer plan

Unai Emery has confirmed Cameron Archer will return to Aston Villa following Sheffield United’s relegation from the Premier League.

Villa are bound to buy Archer back despite selling him for £18.5m last summer, meaning the Blades have effectively paid a decent loan fee for the striker. Emery gave Archer the opportunity to impress in pre-season after winning the European Under-21 Championship with England in July, featuring in all three of the US club’s Premier League Summer Series friendlies.

He scored 11 goals in 20 league appearances for Middlesbrough last season, following another successful spell in the second tier with Preston North End in 2022/23. The 22-year-old has scored four goals in 29 appearances for Sheffield United this season, including against Villa in December, before Nicolo Zaniolo scored a 97th-minute equalizer at the Holte End.

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Asked to confirm if Archer is coming back, Emery said: “Yes, at first, he is coming back. We’re reviewing (the players) and we’re going to meet with (owners) Nassef (Sawiris) and Wes Edens).

“We will try to analyze each situation individually and try to make the best decision with each player.

“When we finish the full season on Sunday we will sit with the club, Monchi, Damian (Vidagany), myself, Wes Edens and we will make decisions. We haven’t decided about each one yet, whether they will be with us in the future or not.”

Villa invest in their academy to produce players capable of playing in the first team or being sold for “pure profit”. The club’s academy won the Birmingham Senior Cup for the first time since 1985 on Wednesday night with a 9-0 win over Racing Club Warwick at Villa Park.

“They work with us every day in training,” Emery said of the academy players. “They work with us and they play just as well with us sometimes. Some at the debut with Omari (Kellyman), with Finn (Munroe), with Kaine (Kesler-Hayden) we have young players with potential.

“We try to help them, support them, make a plan with them to try to be closer to us even knowing how we play and how we build the team. Even the under 21s play more or less similarly. We always connect with the under 21s and we always have a lot of young players training with us.

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