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TOM COLLOMOSSE: Aston Villa's past transfer mistakes serve as a warning to Unai Emery... but the Spaniard's calmer approach with the signings of Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres suggests the message has got through

Aston Villa's strategy in replacing Jack Grealish two summers ago should serve as a warning that simply having money is no guarantee of improving your team.

Villa spent the £100million they received from Manchester City on Emiliano Buendia, Danny Ings and Leon Bailey.

Ings was sold to West Ham barely 18 months later and Bailey is for sale this summer. Of the trio – signed under Dean Smith – only Buendia has been even a qualified success.

Unless you have unlimited wealth to back a rock-solid plan, the modern transfer market is fiendishly difficult to nail, even when a club has billionaire owners.