I feared Aston Villa's rebuild – now I'm excited by what comes next

There was always going to be something strange about watching Aston Villa this season because so much changed in such a short space of time. We had become used to a relatively settled group of players, we'd built relationships with them as supporters and we'd watched them go through this whole journey under Unai Emery, from where Villa were when he arrived to winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League again. Then suddenly a lot of that team disappeared, and I think it was completely understandable to wonder whether something might be lost in the process.

Morgan Rogers went, Ezri Konsa went, Youri Tielemans went and Ollie Watkins went, and these weren't players sitting around the fringes of the squad. They were massive parts of what Villa had become, players we'd watched develop and succeed here, and there was a point during the summer where it felt like the heart of a really successful side was being ripped out. When that happens there is always a danger that you lose some of your connection with the team as well, particularly when you've spent so long watching the same players and becoming invested in their individual journeys.

I wondered whether that might happen to me, but actually I've found the complete opposite because I've really enjoyed getting to know this new Villa team. It helps that there is still a strong element of familiarity there, with Emery obviously being the most important constant and the likes of John McGinn, Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash and Ross Barkley still around, while Pau Torres has been at Villa for a fair while now as well. It isn't literally like supporting a completely new football club, but there has been enough change for everything to feel fresh again.

I've actually found that really refreshing and exciting. I loved Watkins as a Villa player and I've said before that I probably celebrated his goals slightly differently because I'd defended him so much over the years. When people questioned him I backed him, so there was almost a personal satisfaction when he scored and proved people wrong. You build those attachments when you've watched somebody every week for years and that isn't something a new signing can immediately replace, but I haven't found myself constantly looking backwards in the way I perhaps expected to.

Instead, I've really enjoyed learning about this group, reading about them, watching them and finding out more about the players Villa have brought in. Even from the point of view of somebody who talks and writes about Aston Villa every day, whether that's on 1874 or elsewhere, it has galvanised me a little bit because there are completely new stories to tell and players whose journeys at Villa are only just beginning. I genuinely cannot wait to get back to Villa Park and watch this team again because there is a feeling of discovering something new with them.

That excitement isn't just because Villa have changed the personnel, though. The more I've looked at what the club has done, the more I think this rebuild could leave Aston Villa in a stronger long-term position than they were in 12 months ago, both on the pitch and off it.

The obvious question is whether this team has a higher ceiling than the one that won the Europa League, and I think you have to be careful with that because the previous group actually achieved something. They won a trophy, qualified for the Champions League in two of Emery's three full seasons and qualified for Europe four seasons in a row. When we're talking about the ceiling of that team, you could make a pretty convincing argument that they reached it because they achieved pretty much everything we could realistically have hoped for when this whole journey under Emery began.

This team hasn't done any of that yet, so I'm not going to start declaring it better than the Europa League-winning side after a handful of games. What I do think is that it has the potential to reach a similar level, while having something the previous squad didn't necessarily have, which is greater longevity because of the age and profile of so many of the players Villa have invested in.

That's an important distinction because the success of this rebuild can't only be judged by whether Villa immediately become better on the pitch. It also has to be judged by whether the club is in a healthier position going forward, and I think the way Villa have recruited means the long-term future of the club is potentially more secure than it was 12 months ago. There are young players throughout this squad who should improve under Emery and, if that happens, their values should increase significantly at the same time.

Johan Manzambi is probably the clearest example already. Villa bought a player who was regarded in recruitment circles as one of the best young attacking talents available on the market, and I would say his value has already increased considerably from what Villa paid for him. He's gone away with Switzerland, played plenty of football, scored goals, looked productive and had supporters singing about the Ballon d'Or, while the Premier League will increasingly start to take notice of what Villa have got.

I wouldn't be surprised if you're already talking about another £20million or £30million on top of what Villa paid for him in terms of his potential value, and that's before we've really seen him establish himself in the Premier League or show what he can do consistently in the Champions League. He comes back from this international period fitter than he was when he left, with more football in his legs and more confidence, and hopefully he can pick straight back up with all the messaging and information Emery was giving him before the Tottenham game.

Manzambi is only one example as well. Villa have invested in players at an age where their best football should still be ahead of them, and if Emery can develop them in the way we all hope, the value of the squad should naturally increase with it. That's very different from constantly having to find ways of maintaining a team that is already close to its maximum value and performance level, particularly when Villa have had so many financial restrictions to work around.

That's why I think the people running the football side of the club deserve a lot of credit for what they did during the summer. If you'd told me beforehand exactly how many important players were going to leave, I would have been extremely worried about what Villa might look like at the end of the transfer window. Roberto Olabe, Emery, Damian Vidagany and everyone else involved had some enormous challenges to meet, and under the circumstances I think the recruitment was right at the top end of what you could realistically have expected them to achieve.

They haven't just gone out and tried to replace names with names. They've changed the profile of the squad and tried to build something that can compete now while hopefully becoming better and more valuable over time. That matters enormously because Villa need to be sustainable if they're going to remain at this level, and you can already look around this team and see players whose values should only go upwards if things develop as planned.

Of course, there are absolutely no guarantees with any of this. The whole thing could fall down, the season could go badly and some of these players might not develop in the way we're expecting them to. That's football, and the previous group has something this one doesn't have yet because it actually delivered trophies, Champions League qualification and some of the best moments we've had supporting Aston Villa for a very long time.

But I think that's also why the overarching feeling I have about this team is excitement rather than expectation. We don't really know where the ceiling is yet.

I thought the huge turnover might make it harder to connect with Villa this season because we'd lost so many players who had become such a massive part of the club's recent story. Instead, I've found myself enjoying learning about a new group, watching them develop and trying to work out what this team might eventually become, while also becoming increasingly convinced that Villa have put themselves in a stronger long-term position.

The previous team reached an incredible level and gave us memories that will last forever. This one has a very long way to go before it can be talked about in those terms, but it's younger, there is more longevity in it and there is potentially an enormous amount of development and value still to come.

After everything Villa had to deal with during the summer, I think that's about as exciting a position as we could realistically have hoped to be in.