The first time Alejandro Garnacho wore an Aston Villa shirt was not in pre-season but last summer, when he rather pointedly sported a “Rashford 9” jersey.

The shirt was from Marcus Rashford’s loan spell in the second half of the 2024-25 season, when the forward reinvigorated his career by changing environment.

Villa loaned Marco Asensio at the same time, and so began the club’s reputation for offering high-profile stars an attractive route out from their current impasse.

Head coach Unai Emery’s ability to get the most out of players has often been cited as one primary reason for Villa being an ideal location, likewise their recent stretch of European football.

But these loans have also been born out of necessity, leading to a factory producing mixed results with Garnacho the latest curious case.

Why Villa favour loan deals

Villa have implemented loan deals within their recruitment strategy since becoming European football regulars, with fines from Uefa the past two years forcing the club to get creative with transfers.

Restrictions mean they are unable to spend as freely as they would like, and explain the positive net spend of £62.8m this summer when Garnacho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka arrived on loan.

“Loan deal moves are linked to their compliance with Uefa’s squad cost ratio rules,” Loughborough University sports finance expert Dan Plumley tells The i Paper.

“We know they breached and they are on a business plan with Uefa that is being monitored.”

“Loan deals obviously mean no transfer cost right now and you can push that down the road, assuming you want to buy the player or have an obligation to do so. You are effectively just pushing the cost to a later point and probably the next financial year.”

For every Rashford, an Elliott – grading Villa’s loan deals

Four goals and six assists in the second half of Villa’s 2024-25 campaign earned Rashford a loan move to Barcelona the season after. He notably thanked Villa and Emery after being called up to England’s World Cup 2026 squad.

A double sprinkle of stardust saw the Spaniard light up Villa Park along with Rashford in 2024-25, and though he faded towards the end of the campaign, eight goals and one assist helped Villa reach the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup semis.

Loaned from Chelsea at the same time as Rashford and Asensio, but was there as cover and made just six starts. He remains unwanted by Chelsea but the club are unable to sell him. After a loan spell at West Ham, now on loan at Crystal Palace.

The next high-profile name to join, on loan for the 2025-26 season, Sancho featured in 39 games for Villa but never held down a starting spot. He was useful cover for John McGinn in Europe but one goal and three assists perhaps explain why he is still a free agent.

“Embarrassing for everyone involved,” Emery noted in May. “My apologies for Harvey Elliott are, every day, in my mind.” Villa had an obligation to buy Elliott for £35m if he played 10 Premier League games, but he played just 104 minutes across four appearances in the league. It was a wasted season for Elliott, and it raised not only the question of why Villa loaned him, but who at Villa really wanted him. Clearly it was not Emery.

The Brazilian returned for a loan spell in the second half of last season and was largely cover for Youri Tielemans. He came on in the Europa League final and picked up a winners’ medal, but Villa did not take up their option to buy the midfielder from Juventus.

What of Wan-Bissaka and Garnacho?

It is too soon to grade Villa’s current loan signings, but Garnacho and Wan-Bissaka have endured contrasting starts to life in the West Midlands.

Wan-Bissaka has started the last two league games, as well as their Champions League opener, and looks set for an ongoing battle for the right-back role with Matty Cash.

Garnacho meanwhile is down the pecking order for wingers and playing catch-up already.

“Work, work, train, work,” Emery said when asked about Garnacho’s lack of minutes. “He is progressing, but we have players in front of him now.”

The harsher reality of Garnacho’s slow start

Many have been quick to call Garnacho’s current predicament an Elliott 2.0 scenario, with reports of interest from Spain emerging already and Villa seemingly unwilling to activate the obligation to buy from Chelsea.

It is far too early call this fact, given Garnacho also suffered an injury in pre-season, but the reality is that the outlook has already changed at the club since he became their third signing early in the transfer window.

The emergence of George Hemmings has resulted in the 19-year-old becoming Villa’s breakout star of the season so far, with both Emery and captain McGinn glowing in their praise of a young winger eager to learn.

Praise for Hemmings’ work ethic is a reminder for Garnacho. They are direct rivals for the left-wing role, and with support for striker Nicolas Jackson also featuring McGinn, Alysson, Ibrahim Mbaye and Emiliano Buendia, competition is fierce.

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The harsher reality though is that Garnacho is simply not as good as his rivals, and having been thrust into the spotlight at United early on in his career, it can be difficult to accept you are not at that level.

And Villa, really, is no step down from Chelsea or United currently given they are a Champions League club, and unless the 22-year-old convinces Emery otherwise, this season is only going one way.

Not every crossroad that leads players to Villa is successful, evidently, and now it is on Garnacho to prove the more probable path is not the one he will take.