Al-Ittihad have joined fellow Saudi Pro League side Diriyah in exploring a move for Aston Villa and Jamaica winger Leon Bailey. (Athletic - subscription required), external
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Aston Villa have done the following business on transfer deadline day:
Central midfielder Aidan Borland has moved to League Two club Accrington Stanley on a season-long loan.
Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis has joined Villa in a permanent deal for an initial fee of £25m.
Paris St-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye has completed a permanent move to Villa Park for a fee of 55m euros (£47m).
Wigan Athletic have signed Aston Villa midfielder Brad Burrowes on a season-long loan.
Peterborough have signed Villa defender Josh Feeney on a season-long loan.
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Follow all the transfer deadline day news in our live text
What do you think of Villa's business in the transfer window? Let us know here
Nick Mashiter
Football reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa boss Unai Emery threw down the challenge and Tammy Abraham has chosen to accept it.
The striker's decision to turn down Everton's approach on deadline day shows his desire to make an impact at Villa Park.
Abraham was never looking to leave this summer, there was no plan to find an exit even after a frustrating return to Villa in January.
He was happy, although Villa were open to letting him leave which is why they entertained Ipswich's loan offer last week.
Yet on Monday, Abraham came on as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal and, afterwards, Emery said it was the 28-year-old's decision to stay and reject the Tractor Boys' interest.
That came with a caveat, though, with Emery demanding Abraham improve and find the levels he wants. Abraham managed three goals in 19 appearances last season, following an £18.25m move from Besitkas.
The fact Abraham had another route out on deadline day - to Everton who were left scrambling when their £40m deal for Monaco's Folarin Balogun hung in the balance - and decided to stay speaks volumes for his character and determination.
Record £65m signing Nicolas Jackson will be first choice and Brian Madjo is just 17. But with four competitions and Villa routinely facing three games a week, Abraham will get his chance and it is one he must take.
Image source, Getty ImagesIt's been a very busy summer at Villa Park.
After letting a whole host of key players depart the club, Unai Emery has overseen an evolution over his squad in the months since their famous Europa League victory in Turkey.
Some of the stars who have left the club include; Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Martinez and Lucas Digne.
Villa have not stood still, bringing in a whole new starting eleven's worth of recruits.
These include new number one Zion Suzuki and additions at the back offering Premier League experience in Aaron Wan-Bissaka from West Ham and Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Southampton.
Add in Modou Keba Cisse and Matteo Ruggeri defensively, Joao Gomes and Leon Goretzka in midfield and a number of attacking talents and Villa can boast an entirely new starting line-up.
It will take some time for these new faces to gel with the current squad but it seems an exciting new era has just begun at Villa Park.
Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesAl-Diriyah are showing an interest in Aston Villa attacker Leon Bailey.
The Jamaica international has been linked with a move away from Villa Park and the Saudi club will make a move for Bailey if he doesn't leave before Tuesday's deadline.
The transfer deadline in Saudi Arabia is on 6 September. Al-Diriyah's sporting director is former Crystal Palace player Dougie Freedman.
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa's deadline day signing Ibrahim Mbaye says he is looking forward to linking up with his "brother" and Senegal team-mate Nicolas Jackson at Villa Park.
The 18-year-old forward has completed a move from Paris St-Germain, bringing an end to his eight-year association with the club.
Making his Ligue 1 debut in August 2024, Mbaye has made 42 first-team appearances for the back-to-back Champions League winners - scoring four goals and contributing four assists.
"I'm happy to join this team," Mbaye told VillaTV, external. "Aston Villa are a big club. We won the Europa League last year, so I feel good about this move.
"I already know some of the players, like Nicolas Jackson and Boubacar Kamara, so I hope that will help me settle in. I have a good connection with Jackson through the Senegal national team. He is my brother, we always talk to each other.
"It is going to be an incredible feeling to wear the Aston Villa shirt and play my first minutes at Villa Park."
Unai Emery's side are set to face Paris St-Germain, for the fourth time in less than two years, at Villa Park in December.
"The Premier League and the Champions League are the biggest competitions in the world," Mbaye added. "I'm very excited to play in both of them with this team, and I hope I can bring my experience.
"Playing against Paris St-Germain will be a special moment for me as it is my old club. It is a game I'm looking forward to and I hope we take the win."
With Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis coming through the doors on deadline day, how do you feel about Villa's summer transfer window overall?
Get in touch with your views here
Nick Mashiter
Football reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesAston Villa have committed to spend about £280m in Unai Emery's summer rebuild.
The arrivals of Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis on deadline day shows they are continuing to spend big.
They have broken their transfer record twice with the arrivals of forwards Johan Manzambi (£52m) and Nicolas Jackson (£65m), so cannot plead poverty.
If all clauses and add-ons are triggered, Villa would be pushing £300m this summer, despite needing to sell to comply with Uefa and Premier League financial rules.
Uefa limits the amount of revenue spent on wages, transfers and agent fees to 70% and Villa have already breached the regulations twice.
They were fined £19.4m in June - with £12.9m suspended - having been hit with a £9.5m sanction for a similar breach the year before, and they need to ensure they break-even because of their settlement agreement with Uefa.
Despite that, Matteo Ruggeri (£17m), Harwood-Bellis (£30m), Joao Gomes (£38m) Jackson, Zion Suzuki (£30m), Manzambi and Mbaye (£47m) have all arrived, while midfielder Leon Goretzka has also joined on a free transfer after leaving Bayern Munich.
That comes having brought in just over £300m through the sales of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins.
That figure also includes Enzo Barrenechea's £10.3m departure to Benfica and Roma paying £21.3m to make Donyell Malen's loan permanent.
Emery said following Monday's defeat at Arsenal that he was happy with their transfer business, and that everything Villa had planned for they had achieved.
It was always going to be a summer of change at Villa Park, although the depth of the transition with so many key players leaving is something Emery has already admitted he did not expect.
Nick Mashiter
Football reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesTammy Abraham will stay at Aston Villa after rejecting a loan move to Ipswich Town.
The striker has decided to fight for his place at Villa Park after the arrival of Nicolas Jackson for £65m.
Abraham scored three goals in 19 appearances last season after joining from Besiktas for £18.25m in January.
Villa were open to letting him leave but, as BBC Sport reported in July, the 28-year-old is happy at Villa Park despite Ipswich pursuing a loan move last week.
Boss Unai Emery said: "Now we have one striker, Jackson, and we are very happy with him. We have Brian Madjo, but he is injured, and Tammy Abraham's decision is to stay here.
"We opened the door for him but he's decided to stay here with us. I am going to be very demanding with him to add his qualities with us.
"Tammy is coming back to the Premier League. I spoke with him. He needs time but he needs to do it as soon as possible to adapt to the Premier League. He didn't perform like we wanted last year."
Abraham had previously played for Villa on loan from Chelsea, scoring 25 goals to help them return to the Premier League, in 2018-19.
He left Chelsea for Roma in 2021 and also played for AC Milan on loan in 2024-25, before six months at Besiktas in Turkey - scoring 12 goals in 24 appearances - ahead of his return to Villa earlier this year.
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We asked for your thoughts after Monday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Arsenal.
Here are some of your comments:
Aston Villa fans
Kev: I am impressed with that. We will be a force when we are ready, perhaps in a few more weeks. Nicolas Jackson looked well, Zion Suzuki looked good, Matty Cash was solid and Aaron Wan-Bissaka looked good when he came on. All positives, apart from the result. That Villa would have beaten Brighton.
Radu: A good display from Villa. It seems like Brighton was just an accident. We played the Champions League finalists looking confident. There are good things coming.
Prit: A lot of huff and puff by Villa, but a much better performance than last weekend. I thought Jackson looked good and Suzuki was solid, but we are missing that bit of creativity in the middle. Two matches, no points and no shots on goal is sobering. We need to start playing as a team and not a bunch of strangers.
David: Arsenal had all the possession but Villa arguably had the better chances. We are in a period of transition and most of the new signings aren't ready yet. Once they are, Villa will be a much better team. All of the players who have left have been replaced by younger ones with a higher ceiling. People seem to forget that all of those players were bang average before Unai Emery arrived. Give us a month and we will be strong again.
Arsenal fans
Naim: We got the job done, but against a mediocre opponent. We are still missing options on the left and it is a pretty damning indictment of things when Viktor Gyokeres isn't an option to replace Kai Havertz, who was having a poor game.
Izzy: A good performance against a good side. It shows how much we have improved since this time last year - and without key players as well. Overall, we need to improve because there are a lot harder teams than Aston Villa, but a good performance.
Daz: A great defensive performance. We need to win ugly at times to win the Premier League. On to Chelsea.
Adam: I'm pleased with the win but we made it hard for ourselves. Havertz didn't have a good game. Why was Ben White inverting when he clearly isn't a midfielder? He does best when he overlaps Bukayo Saka and leaves room for Martin Odegaard to operate in that forward midfield space. A good win, but work to do before Chelsea on Sunday.
Tuesday is the final chance of the summer for your Premier League team to do transfer business.
The window closes at 23:00 BST, so teams - and fans - could be in for a late-night transfer scramble.
It has already been a busy window, but whether it turns out to be a day of transfer action or a pretty quiet one for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.
Follow our live text coverage throughout the day here
Get alerts and keep up to date with all the latest news, insight and fan views for your club
Emlyn Begley
BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty ImagesUnai Emery is having to build an Aston Villa 2.0 after a summer in which he has lost almost the entire spine of his Europa League-winning team.
A narrow home defeat by the champions will not have been as alarming as the 4-0 loss at Brighton on the opening day.
But this was the first time Villa failed to have a shot on target in a home Premier League game since May 2016 against Newcastle United under caretaker boss Eric Black – when they had already been relegated.
In fact, they are the first team to not have a shot on target after two Premier League games since Swansea City in 2017-18.
There were debuts for Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and ex-Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson – replacements for the departed Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins.
Suzuki showed both good and bad sides – going for a corner and missing it early on and later spilling a Kai Havertz shot which he gathered at the second attempt.
He also made saves from a Declan Rice header and a Havertz one-on-one chance. On both occasions there was an offence - a foul and offside respectively - but Suzuki still made the stops to be sure.
He also looked confident and comfortable with passing the ball at the back.
Jackson did not have a lot of joy on his Villa bow up front – but Watkins would also have struggled to do anything with little service.
The closest they went was when Emiliano Buendia crashed his long-range effort off the woodwork, but there had been a tackle just before it that would probably have ruled out a goal, had it come.
Summer signings Alejandro Garnacho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka both came on in the second half for their Villa Park debuts.
Ibrahim Mbaye and Taylor Harwood-Bellis were both watching from the stands at Villa Park and are expected to finalise moves on Tuesday's deadline day.
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Aston Villa starting XI:
Zion Suzuki: A debut for the £30m goalkeeper from Parma who had no chance with the opening goal. He misjudged his first corner but his distribution caught the eye and will be useful this season. 7
Matty Cash: His usual solid display and got the better of Christos Tzolis, who was replaced at the break. 6
Pau Torres: Helped keep Arsenal at bay until they broke the deadlock in the second half. 6
Victor Lindelof: The Sweden international diligently tried to keep Arsenal in check. Has not let Villa down since arriving on a free transfer. 6
Ian Maatsen: With new signing Matteo Ruggeri on the bench, he has competition and had his hands full with Bukayo Saka, and was beaten to the ball for the goal. 6
Boubacar Kamara: The midfielder is so crucial to how Villa play and he offered an important shield to frustrate the Gunners until Saka's opener. 7
Ross Barkley: The former Everton youngster has been given a second chance at Villa as they rebuild and tried to keep the hosts flowing. 6
John McGinn: The skipper drilled over and was his usual energetic self as Villa tried to unsettle Arsenal and did not drop his energy levels. 6
Emi Buendia: The Argentina international hit the bar early and was a good creative outlet for the hosts but could not find the killer touch. 6
George Hemmings: Villa rate the 19-year-old highly and he showed no fear against the champions. He threatened in the first half, especially with one low cross. 7
Nicolas Jackson: The £65m record signing will take time as he replaces Ollie Watkins but showed flashes of what he can bring. 6
Aston Villa substitutes:
Tammy Abraham (on 71, Jackson): Included despite Ipswich trying to take him on loan, but could not find a leveller. 6
Alysson (on 71, Hemmings): The winger looked lively in his second-half cameo. 6
Alejandro Garnacho (on 78, Barkley): 5
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (on 78, Cash): 5
Subs not used: Bizot, Bogarde, Lynch, Mings, Ruggeri
=
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to Match of the Day: "We performed like we planned and we competed like we planned. We didn't achieve the result, of course, it's painful. But through how we played and competed, that is the way we want to build again, to build a team like we want. The debut of some players was fantastic."
On if is excited to work with new players: "We are happy how we are closing the transfer window. We are not regretting anything. The players we have joining should be enough to build the team again with the structure we want."
On Taylor Harwood-Bellis watching in the stands: "I don't know if it's official, hopefully we can close everything. We did a fantastic job in the last three years, now with the new chapter, try to rebuild the team as fast as possible."
On last year's success despite a slow start and if people are quick to forget that: "Each year is different. We have an idea in our mind to build again and create a new chapter. We have lost two matches. We don't want to compare with the past, we must focus on this year."
Listen to more from Emery on BBC Sounds
Did you know?
Aston Villa have lost their first two Premier League matches of the season for the first time since 2019-20. They are the first team to finish in the top-four of the top-flight (4th in 2025-26) and then lose their first two games of the following season since both Arsenal and Manchester United in 1992-93, and first to do so without scoring since QPR in 1976-77.
Since Opta began recording shot data in 2003-04, Aston Villa are just the second team to fail to have a shot on target in their first two Premier League matches in a season, along with Swansea City in 2017-18 who were later relegated that season.
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Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.
Have your say on Aston Villa's performance
What did you make of Arsenal's display?
Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Tuesday for a selection of your replies.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked you what transfer business Aston Villa need to complete before Tuesday's 23:00 BST deadline.
Here are some of your comments:
Damoe: We seem to need an absolute minimum of three more quality additions, not just squad numbers. We need a right-sided centre-back, a winger to play on the right, and a new first-choice striker. Not much to ask for...
Martin: Everyone is saying we need a striker but our two most creative players have gone in Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers. We've got Emi Buendia and Ross Barkley but at 29 and 32 we really need to find another Rogers.
Craigy: We need two number eights as Barkley is not good enough. Bring our Jack Grealish back to cover Alejandro Garnacho. Also, two centre-backs and a striker. That's six players before the window shuts. More importantly, we need to sell Barkley, Lamare Bogarde, Leon Bailey and Tyrone Mings.
Noel: Firstly, we have to support our manager, who is easily the best in the Premier League. We may have a tough season ahead, but we will come out stronger, just like last season. Our buys have been good, they will just need time to gel together. We still need a right-sided centre half, another winger and a centre forward. They will be in place by deadline day.
Prit: Last season we needed another centre-back next to Ezri Konsa, now we've sold him without bringing in his replacement. Villa need to learn their lesson - we can't keep on going into the final week of a transfer window to try and grab some summer bargains. We need a strategy, we need a plan and we need to deliver a plan.
Geoff: Aston Villa need Joe Rodon from Leeds.
Image source, Getty ImagesWe asked for your views on the mood amongst fans after so many key player sales. Below this post you can see what's left of Aston Villa's XI from the Europa League final.
Here are some of your comments:
Peter: It's a disaster. We will struggle this season with many of the new players having only just arrived. They have never played together. I see a heavy defeat against Arsenal.
Dan: Short-term pain for long-term gain (hopefully). Of course it hurts to lose so many huge players and we wouldn't have planned a transition to happen exactly like this, but it was obvious from our age profile and stale periods of last season that change was needed. In difficult circumstances we have maximised player's values, cut the wage bill and are in possession of some of Europe's most exciting young attacking talents. We need to be patient, ignore reactionary nonsense from some in the media but still expect to be around the top seven at the close of the season. In Unai we trust!
Magnus: Bring in a decent centre-half and you could argue that we have a stronger squad than last season. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest we won't be playing in Europe again next year.
Chris: As a lifelong Villa fan I feel utterly betrayed. Our best team in years has been ripped apart and the replacements are, so far, underwhelming to say the least. We have a very tough season ahead and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Unai Emery just walked away from it all.
Sat: Hurts to see so many players leave, though some more than others. If at the start of the window you said Martinez, Digne and Rogers would go I could have accepted that. But losing Tielemans and Konsa is a massive blow, while Watkins leaving in a huff leaves a bad taste. His time at Villa wasn't done yet. He should have completed 100 Premier League goals, help newcomers bed in, then leave in January if needs be once he'd turned 31. He in particular has tarnished his legacy.
Some 103 days ago, Aston Villa fans watched their side stride out at the Besiktas Park and cruise past Freiburg in the Europa League final.
The starting XI had been partially built before Unai Emery's arrival in November 2022, but the Spaniard added the finishing touches to bring glory and a cup back to Villa Park.
Roll the clock forward to the present day, the heart, the spine and Emery's key players have left, which leaves Villa's XI having a stark contrast to the team which won the Europa League.
Since that special night in Turkey, only five - Emiliano Buendia, John McGinn, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres and Matty Cash - are still at the club, with Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Martinez having now all left.
Although Villa have recouped £341.5m from transfer business, some Villa fans may be concerned at the squad rebuild facing Emery.
So, how do you feel about this summer's departures? Do you think Unai Emery will be able to have a successful 2026-27 season? And what business do Villa still need to do before the transfer deadline at 23:00 BST on Tuesday?
Get in touch with your views here
Image source, Getty Images
