Emi Buendia responds to Steven Gerrard demand with emphatic message

Emi Buendia is currently playing some of his best football in an Aston Villa shirt since he made the £35million switch from Norwich City in the summer.

© Gareth Copley/Getty Images Back in favour... Emiliano Buendia.

The Argentinian became Villa's record signing, a figure broken in consecutive summers following the club's promotion to the Premier League in 2019. First it was Wesley, then Ollie Watkins. In fact, since Villa returned to the top-flight, owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have splashed more than £350million on transfer fees alone.

And there was an expectation that Buendia would take the Premier League by storm on joining a Villa side with much to prove after Jack Grealish departed for Manchester City for a cool £100million. He had one year in the top-flight with Norwich in 2019/20, and despite being relegated with Canaries, Buendia held his own and impressed throughout the campaign.

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After registering 32 goal contributions in 39 Championship appearances last season, Buendia was on the radar of several top clubs when the summer transfer window opened, including European hopefuls Arsenal. But Villa pipped the Gunners to sign a player who was originally targeted to compliment to Grealish in Dean Smith's side.

Of course, the England international left Villa Park for a Premier League record fee a few months later, and Danny Ings and Leon Bailey followed Buendia to make up a trio of signings all recruited to replace the influence left by Grealish. Buendia, Ings and Bailey have all struggled at times to justify their expensive price tags, but certainly in the case of Buendia and Ings, both are ending the campaign on a positive note.

Former Southampton striker Ings has record seven goal contributions in his last six starts, while Buendia has also been in and amongst the goals. He has registered three goal contributions in his last two games against Norwich and Burnley.

Buendia has seen his game time cut following the loan arrival of Philippe Coutinho in January and he had sat out eight of Villa's nine games before the trip to Turf Moor at the weekend. But he replaced Coutinho in the starting XI to face the Clarets, and Gerrard's decision was vindicated after a man-f=the-match performance inspired a 3-1 victory.

Speaking before Villa's clash with Norwich the previous week, Gerrard told BirminghamLive that he wanted Buendia to chip in with more goals and assists to earn a place in the first XI. He said: "We’ve got a real strong relationship with Emi, we’re happy that he is here. He’s fighting on a daily basis for more game time, obviously them opportunities have come from the bench of late, but he has started a lot of games initially when I first came in.

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"So the challenge is very much there for him when he gets the opportunity, whether that’s from the start or from the side, we’re looking for that creative contribution from him, goals or assists. That’s the best way for him to start winning a starting shirt consistently and deliver and execute and get numbers in the game.

"He works extremely hard every day, he’s tenacious and warrior-like in how he goes about it. A lot of our forward players have got to continue trying to keep the crowd in the right place, they have to deliver and execute in the final third, that’s what they get paid to do. But that’s not just at Emi, it’s all of our goal scorers, our wingers, our tens, our attacking players.

"We’ve got a lot of talent in the building but the reality is we’re not scoring enough goals of late, that’s what we’re expecting. We’re expecting them to push and score or create in big moments to put us in a better place in the league."

Asked whether Buendia can play in the same team as fellow playmaker Coutinho, Gerrard replied: "At certain times, against certain opponents, I have seen it work, but not in every game. I think they are quite similar, but what you have got is two creative players who are capable of opening the door.

"Where Emi is at, obviously he is a lot younger, he needs to continue to work on certain parts of his game, Phil as well. But there is a big onus on them in terms of creativity and goals because they play in important positions in this team."

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