Aston Villa’s best Premier League signings of all time

Aston Villa have experienced their fair share of highs and lows since the Premier League's inception, but few periods in the club's modern history can compare with the remarkable resurgence overseen by Unai Emery.

Through a shrewd and increasingly sophisticated transfer strategy, the Villans have transformed themselves into regular European contenders and will return to the Champions League for the 2026-27 campaign.

Here, FootballWhispers counts down Aston Villa's five best signings of the Premier League era.

As with any ranking of this nature, there is inevitably an element of subjectivity, particularly when comparing players from different eras and positions, but performance, achievements, longevity and overall impact have been the primary criteria.

5) Morgan Rogers

A controversial selection, perhaps, given that Rogers spent only two-and-a-half years at Villa Park after joining from Middlesbrough for a reported £8m in January 2024.

Yet sometimes a player's impact cannot be measured simply by the number of seasons he spends at a club. Rogers quickly established himself as a major figure in Emery's side, announcing his arrival on the biggest stage with a first Champions League hat-trick in a thrilling 4-2 victory over Celtic.

The 2024-25 campaign was the season in which he truly blossomed, with the England international producing 14 goals and 15 assists across all competitions and earning Aston Villa's Young Player of the Season award.

His performances were recognised beyond Villa Park, too, as Rogers went on to claim the PFA Young Player of the Year prize.

There was no let-up the following season, with Rogers once again reaching the 14-goal mark across all competitions while playing a pivotal role in Villa's Europa League triumph. UEFA duly recognised his influence by naming him the Europa League Player of the Season.

Chelsea arrived this summer with a £117m offer, making Rogers the most expensive English player in history and transforming an £8m investment into one of the most extraordinary pieces of business Villa have ever conducted.

For the Villans, it was the deal of the century: a player who delivered spectacularly on the pitch, helped them win silverware and ultimately left for a staggering profit.

4) John McGinn

John McGinn arrived at Aston Villa during one of the darkest periods in the club's recent history, when the former European Cup winner found themselves fighting their way back from the Championship.

The Scotland international had the opportunity to join Celtic, but instead chose Villa, a decision that has proved immensely rewarding for both player and club.

Signed by Steve Bruce from Hibernian for a modest £2.8m, McGinn quickly became far more than just another shrewd piece of Championship recruitment.

The Glasgow-born midfielder has gone on to make 329 appearances for Villa, scoring 40 goals, and has remained a constant presence through the club's remarkable transformation over the years.

McGinn may not possess the silky technique or breathtaking natural ability of some of the other names on this list, but what he lacks in elegance he more than makes up for with a bulldog spirit, relentless energy and an almost infectious competitive edge.

Whether wearing the captain's armband or not, the 31-year-old remains one of Unai Emery's most trusted lieutenants and a pillar of strength in the Villa dressing room. For the supporters, meanwhile, McGinn has long since crossed the line from dependable midfielder to bona fide cult hero.

3) Ashley Young

During the January 2007 transfer window, Aston Villa signed Ashley Young from Watford for around £8m, and it did not take long for the winger to make himself at home at Villa Park.

Young exploded into life during his first full season, finishing second only to Cesc Fabregas for assists with 17 and earning a place in the Premier League Team of the Year.

His pace, directness and willingness to take on defenders made him one of the most dangerous wide players in the division, while his delivery from set pieces added another dimension to Villa's attack.

Young eventually departed for Manchester United in the summer of 2011, having scored 38 goals in 190 appearances and established himself as one of the standout players of Villa's Premier League era.

Yet his Villa story was not quite over. A decade after leaving the club, Young returned to Villa Park in 2021, although the player who walked through the door was a very different proposition from the electric winger who had terrorised Premier League full-backs in his first spell.

Now an experienced campaigner, Young had reinvented himself as a left-back and brought a wealth of experience, leadership and tactical nous to a rapidly evolving Villa side. He made another 57 appearances during his second spell before eventually bringing the curtain down on his time in the Midlands.

Undoubtedly one of the modern greats to grace Villa Park, Young's contribution across two spells ensures that he deserves his place among the club's finest Premier League signings.

2) Ollie Watkins

Unlike several names above him on this list, Ollie Watkins was anything but a bargain when he arrived at Villa Park.

Aston Villa broke their transfer record to sign the striker from Brentford for £28m in the summer of 2020, but with hindsight, the fee now looks like an absolute steal for a forward who has repaid that investment many times over.

Watkins made an immediate impression, scoring 16 goals in his debut season, and with the exception of one campaign, he has reached at least that tally in every season since.

Last season was another prolific chapter, with Watkins finding the net 21 times across all competitions and playing a significant role in Villa's triumphant Europa League campaign.

The striker has now amassed 108 goals in 278 appearances for the club, while his Premier League tally sits just nine goals short of the coveted century mark.

But Watkins' value to Villa extends far beyond simply putting the ball in the net. In 2023-24, he produced arguably the finest campaign of his career, contributing 27 goals and 15 assists and earning the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award.

There is an elegance to the way Watkins moves across the frontline, but it is underpinned by a ruthless finishing instinct and an appetite for stretching defences that makes him such a difficult opponent to contain.

Perhaps because he does not always attract the same spotlight as some of the Premier League's more glamorous forwards, Watkins does not always receive the recognition his numbers warrant. Yet at Villa Park, his importance is beyond dispute.

1) Aston Villa's best Premier League signing of all time: Stiliyan Petrov

First, the obvious question: why not Gareth Barry?

It is a perfectly reasonable argument, given Barry's extraordinary contribution to Aston Villa, but there is a technicality that ultimately keeps him out of this particular list.

Although Villa paid a tribunal fee to Brighton & Hove Albion for Barry, he never made a senior appearance for the Seagulls, instead joining Villa as a trainee and progressing through their youth ranks before becoming one of the club's modern-day legends.

That is why Stiliyan Petrov gets the nod. The Bulgarian was already a seasoned 27-year-old when he arrived at Villa Park in 2006, having established himself as one of Celtic's most influential players and collected four Scottish league titles during his hugely successful spell in Glasgow.

Petrov followed Martin O'Neill to the Midlands, with Villa paying around £6.5m to secure his services, and it did not take long for the midfielder to become an indispensable figure.

His influence was recognised by his teammates, who voted him the club's Players' Player of the Year on two occasions, while he was handed the captain's armband in 2009. Petrov went on to make 219 appearances for Villa, scoring 12 goals, but his importance to the club cannot be adequately captured by numbers alone.

Then, at a time when he still had plenty to offer on the pitch, football was cruelly taken away from him. Petrov was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, forcing him to step away from the game and eventually retire from professional football.

Petrov may have spent only six years wearing the claret and blue, but his imprint on Aston Villa was profound. That is ultimately why Petrov takes the top spot: not simply because he was an outstanding signing, but because he became the kind of player whose name remains woven into the identity of the club long after he stopped playing.