Premier League title challenge? Why anything seems possible for Aston Villa with Unai Emery at the helm

“I want the Premier League,” she proudly declared to her travelling companions.

Not so long ago such a claim, particularly delivered at such volume, would have prompted laughter among fellow passengers. They were the kind of words which might cause family members to stage an intervention, or start checking the number for the men in white coats.

These days? Not so much.

Sure, Villa winning the Premier League in the near future is still something of a long shot.

But it’s also nowhere near so crazy a notion as it used to be.

Even Unai Emery appeared to entertain the idea in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday night’s Europa League final win, when he spoke of Villa wanting to emulate Leicester City in 2016, or at least “get close to it”.

Back at Bodymoor Heath on Friday afternoon, the energy of Istanbul still present despite the lack of sleep for many members of staff, Emery was back to talking in more measured terms, less precise in outlining future targets and warning of the power of those “seven contenders” in possession of greater spending power.

Of course, Emery is right to keep positioning Villa as underdogs when it comes to financial wriggle room.

It’s fair to question, however, just how healthy the Spaniard’s famous “Big Seven” currently are?

For one thing, the group could be reduced to six by Sunday should Tottenham be relegated to the Championship.

Elsewhere, meanwhile, there is uncertainty.

Manchester City, the dominant force of the last decade, are losing the man Emery described as the “only genius” in management and his expected replacement, Enzo Maresca, remains something of an unknown quantity despite winning the Club World Cup with Chelsea.

Xabi Alonso, last weekend confirmed as the new head coach at Stamford Bridge, will look to restore some order at a club which has no shortage of cash but seemingly no direction.

Newcastle also appear at a crossroads after a bottom half finish, while Liverpool have a decision to make over Arne Slot, following their underwhelming title defence. Whether Michael Carrick can build on his early momentum at Manchester United, having now been named Ruben Amorim’s permanent successor, will be another of the big questions heading into next season.

The only consistency in this season’s top-five is at Arsenal and Villa, both of whom can be confident they have the right man in the dugout.

Guardiola’s departure from City should, in theory, set things up for the Gunners to dominate over the next couple of seasons at least, Mikel Arteta’s team having finally got over the line and seen their biggest rival theoretically weakened in the same week.

But Villa were right up with Arsenal until the end of January and much as this will go down as the greatest season in recent history, it is also fair to ponder what might have happened had they not suffered the misfortune of losing Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn to injury over the space of barely a fortnight.

Villa also have to get better at helping themselves. The most remarkable aspect of this campaign is glory has been achieved despite some very underwhelming returns on the recruitment front.

Harvey Elliott, Evann Guessand and Jadon Sancho, last summer’s three attacking signings, were all either bit-part players or in Elliott’s case, a complete non-factor in the triumph. January arrivals Douglas Luiz and Tammy Abraham also made relatively minor contributions.

While the “old guard” led by John McGinn and Ollie Watkins pulled Villa through and proved for now they have plenty left in the tank, this is still a squad in need of a refresh which, in an ideal world, would have started well before now.

Put simply, if they are to keep climbing or even maintain their current level, Villa need this summer’s window to be a good one, with three or four quality additions the priority. Keep getting it wrong and eventually it will catch up with you. Just ask Wolves.

Villa’s greatest asset remains Emery. If there were ever any doubts over his future, they were surely erased by the events of the past eight days with the Champions League and a trophy secured.

Emery is ending the season with fresh energy, his belief in the project and the club’s potential having been restored following the dark days of last September when, just for a short while, everything looked to be falling apart.

While the council-driven scheduling of Thursday’s trophy parade was a source of disappointment to many supporters still yet to make it back from Turkey, the size of the crowd which still packed out the streets of central Birmingham was a reminder of Villa’s size.

There is always room for more growth. Success breeds success and also attracts supporters. Emery was right to observe how Villa’s “brand” will have been strengthened by Wednesday’s win.

The difficulty is always sustaining it, something Villa, ever since their golden age in the 1890s, have consistently failed to do.

For Emery and the club’s ownership the aim must be for Istanbul to be the start of something, rather than the pinnacle.

It won’t be easy and some good decisions will need to be taken but after three-and-a-half years of upsetting the odds, who would back against Emery now?

Maybe, sometimes, there really are no limits to your dreams.