Do Aston Villa have the best owner in the Premier League?

I've said on numerous occasions that I believe Aston Villa have the best manager in the Premier League in Unai Emery, but I'm starting to wonder whether we might also have the best owner in Nassef Sawiris, because the more I see of how the club operates and the decisions being made behind the scenes, the more impressed I become with the people responsible for its direction.

I put that to Jacob Tanswell when he joined me on 1874 to discuss Emery's expected new contract, because I think it's worth looking beyond the manager himself and considering just how important the ownership has been in creating an environment where somebody of Emery's calibre wants to remain for the long term.

One of the things I've found particularly reassuring about Aston Villa in recent years is the relationship between Sawiris, Emery, Damiàn Vidagany and Roberto Olabe. I've been really impressed with Olabe since he arrived, and I've always liked the way Vidagany operates, but the person overseeing everything is Sawiris, who seems to understand exactly what is required to make the football club successful.

I asked Jacob how fortunate Villa are to have somebody like that in charge, because while we naturally hear more about the manager and the players, I genuinely think Sawiris deserves an enormous amount of credit for the position the club finds itself in.

Jacob told me that, looking at the situation from a Villa supporter's perspective, he considers Sawiris close to the perfect owner, primarily because he doesn't interfere unnecessarily in the day-to-day football operation but remains informed and is prepared to become involved when he believes something requires his attention.

He explained that Sawiris receives regular updates from Olabe and Vidagany about what's happening at the club, rather than attempting to make every football decision himself, and I think that's a particularly important point when you look at some of the ownership situations elsewhere in the Premier League.

We've seen what can happen when people arrive at football clubs with enormous financial resources but without necessarily understanding how the sport operates, and then attempt to become involved in areas where they would be better served trusting the people they've employed.

Jacob referenced Todd Boehly at Chelsea during this part of our conversation, making the point that Villa's owners appear to understand their individual responsibilities rather than everybody trying to influence the football side.

He also provided some interesting detail about Wes Edens, who isn't necessarily as visible as Sawiris when it comes to football decisions but remains heavily invested in Aston Villa, watches the games and contributes particularly on the commercial side of the operation.

Michael Angelakis is another important figure within the ownership group, and Jacob was keen to emphasise that the different people involved understand the areas where they can contribute most effectively.

I think that's something Villa supporters can take a lot of encouragement from, because having wealthy owners is one thing, but having an ownership group that recognises the importance of appointing good people and allowing them to work is quite another.

The other thing that stands out to me about Sawiris is his judgement when it comes to the really big football decisions.

I mentioned to Jacob that Sawiris was instrumental in the decision to move on from Steven Gerrard, and was also the driving force behind bringing Emery to Aston Villa in the first place. When you consider how dramatically the club's fortunes have changed since that appointment, I think it's fair to suggest that those decisions have had an enormous influence on where Villa are today.

It would have been very easy for the ownership to appoint somebody who was available, familiar with the Premier League or considered a safer option at the time, but they went after a manager who was already successful elsewhere and convinced him that Aston Villa could provide the platform for his ambitions.

I don't think we should underestimate how impressive that was, particularly when you consider the position Villa were in when Gerrard left.

Jacob also explained why keeping Emery is so important to the ownership, and it isn't simply because they want Aston Villa to continue winning football matches.

He made the point that the club's entire project is closely connected to the success of the team, because the better Villa perform, the greater the opportunities to grow commercially, increase revenue and develop the infrastructure required to compete at the highest level.

The owners are continuing to cover substantial financial losses, and Jacob explained that Sawiris, Edens and Angelakis are prepared to do that because they believe in the longer-term potential of Aston Villa.

That doesn't mean the intention is to continue losing money indefinitely. The aim is to reduce those losses and ultimately establish a more profitable operation, with the development of Villa Park and the surrounding infrastructure an important part of achieving that.

But the football team has to remain successful for the wider project to work as intended, and Jacob made the point that losing Emery would risk slowing the progress that has been made.

I think that's a really important way of looking at the new contract discussions, because Villa's owners clearly recognise that Emery is central to so much of what they're trying to achieve.

There's also the question of how much money the owners are prepared to invest, because I think we've all become frustrated at various points by the financial restrictions that have affected Aston Villa in recent years.

I've never really questioned whether Sawiris and the other owners want to spend money on the team, though. The issue has generally been what the regulations allow them to do, rather than any apparent reluctance to provide the manager with the resources he needs.

Jacob made a similar point, explaining that the owners continue to support the club financially and are prepared to incur losses because they believe in the direction of the project, while also trying to develop the revenue streams that will allow Villa to become more sustainable.

Another interesting part of our conversation concerned Jamie Carragher's recent comments about Emery and Manchester United, because Jacob revealed something about Sawiris's involvement that I hadn't previously been aware of.

He explained that Sawiris was the person who alerted other senior figures at Villa to Carragher's comments and was particularly passionate about defending the football club.

Now, I've already made my feelings clear about Villa's response to Carragher, and I told Jacob that I wasn't especially keen on the club issuing a statement. Jacob agreed that he didn't particularly like the statement either, describing it as an unnecessary response from his perspective.

But he also made the point that, if you were looking at the situation purely as a Villa supporter, you would probably appreciate having an owner who was prepared to fight the club's corner.

I can understand that argument, and I think there's a distinction between disagreeing with the way something has been handled and questioning the motivation behind it.

Sawiris clearly wasn't happy with the suggestion that Emery should be looking towards Manchester United, and while I personally would have preferred Villa to ignore the comments and allow their progress to speak for itself, I can certainly appreciate having an owner who feels that strongly about defending the club.

Jacob acknowledged that Sawiris can perhaps become a little emotional in those situations, but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing provided it doesn't interfere with the important decisions being made.

I'd much rather have somebody who genuinely cares about Aston Villa and wants to protect the club's reputation than an owner who appears completely detached from what supporters are experiencing.

And when you put all of this together, I think it explains why I feel so comfortable with the direction Aston Villa are heading in, even when there are challenges to overcome.

We know that the financial regulations have made certain things difficult, and there will inevitably be decisions that supporters disagree with along the way, but I look at the people running the football club and feel that they understand what they're trying to achieve.

You've got Emery, who I believe is the best manager in the Premier League, working alongside people in Olabe and Vidagany who appear to understand his requirements, and an ownership group that is prepared to support them while also taking responsibility for the longer-term development of the club.

Jacob's insight into how Sawiris operates only strengthened my opinion that Villa are in an extremely fortunate position, particularly when you consider the uncertainty and instability that supporters of other clubs have experienced under different ownership groups.

I finished that part of our conversation by thanking Sawiris for what he's done for Aston Villa, which might sound a little strange considering he's almost certainly not listening to me and probably isn't particularly concerned about what I think, but I genuinely meant it.

He's played an enormous part in transforming the direction of this football club, and while Emery quite rightly receives so much of the credit for what happens on the pitch, I think it's important that we recognise the people who brought him here and have given him the opportunity to succeed.

When you look at the decisions Sawiris has made, the people he has appointed and the ambition he continues to demonstrate, I think there's a very strong argument that Aston Villa have one of the best owners in football.

And I certainly wouldn't swap him for anybody else in the Premier League.