Ordinarily, lifting the Europa League and securing a Champions League place would leave a club in a powerful position.
Yet this summer, Villa have been dismantled, becoming casualties of the very system they have publicly opposed.
To meet Uefa and Premier League financial regulations, they sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for a record £117m.
Even then, Youri Tielemans — who, like Rogers, scored in May’s Europa League final victory over Freiburg — was also sold to Manchester United.
Aiming to refresh their left-back profile, Villa allowed Lucas Digne to join Paris St‑Germain, replacing him with Atletico Madrid’s Matteo Ruggeri.
Even so, significant uncertainty still surrounds Villa’s squad just days before they open the season at Brighton.
By the end of the month, Villa could lose the core of their team, with goalkeeper Martinez also expected to depart.
Change was anticipated — the sense was the squad would begin to break up this summer — but the scale now points to an overhaul that would normally span two or three windows.
Captain John McGinn was defiant last week when asked about the upheaval, insisting the structures and values that underpinned their success remain, and noting Villa still played well despite losing to PSG in the Super Cup.
Still, doubts about the squad persist.
Manager Emery has extracted everything possible over the past two years, and now Villa face a pivotal fortnight before the transfer window closes.