George Hemmings left Hull City with a bigger role than before. Unai Emery said he is already a Premier League player after Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw at the MKM Stadium, and that judgement now sits alongside Alejandro Garnacho’s slow start.
Saturday’s match gave the comparison its sharpest form. Garnacho made his third appearance for Aston Villa, came on as a second-half substitute for Emiliano Buendia in the final quarter of an hour, and finished 15 minutes plus stoppage-time with one shot, one chance created, one cross completed and no more than nine passes.
Emery on George Hemmings
“George, he worked last year the whole year with us and played minutes. He is performing fantastic and getting better. He created one assist for Buendia. He is working in the intensity and kilometres we need. He is doing it. I think he is a player now, clearly, to be in the Premier League,” Emery said after the Hull City draw. That is not just praise; it is a selection marker, and it tells the rest of the squad where the manager’s trust is going.
Emery added: “Then, we have other players who joined who need to adapt to us in training, playing matches, and Garnacho is in this way. We need their performance to try to add things, working and getting numbers. Garnacho is in this way. How he is responding, George, is really fantastic.” The message is blunt: adaptation still matters more than name value, and Aston Villa are judging output before reputation.
Garnacho and Aston Villa
Stephen Warnock pushed that point harder on co-commentary. “You may as well take off Alejandro Garnacho and Tammy Abraham. They have done nothing since they have come on the pitch. Garnacho going down. He looks completely disinterested. Unai Emery will be furious with his changes,” he said. That criticism matters because it followed a 0-0 result, when every substitute touch is magnified and every quiet cameo gets noticed.
Garnacho’s route to Aston Villa makes the scrutiny harsher. He left Manchester United last summer after 144 first-team appearances and 26 goals, joined Chelsea in a £40million deal, and later moved on when Aston Villa captured his services in July. He has featured in Aston Villa’s first three Premier League matches this campaign, but Emery’s post-match message suggests the short-term pecking order is still being decided by training habits and match numbers, not transfer fee.
MKM Stadium selection call
The practical read for Aston Villa is simple: Hemmings is the cleaner current pick, while Garnacho still has to earn the role. Emery has already said as much in public, and the 0-0 at Hull City gave him a reason to say it plainly. If Garnacho wants the next shift in minutes, he now has to turn the adaptation phase into the kind of work Hemmings is already selling.
