Aston Villa have an abundance of options at right-back but what’s the plan for them in the new Premier League season?

At the end of the 2024/25 season, the view that Aston Villa should and would sign a new right-back this summer was approaching consensus.

Villa missed out on Champions League qualification by losing their last match of the season in the Premier League, failing to overcome the odds after goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was sent off for a professional foul on United striker Rasmus Højlund.

The incident that set Villa Park after an already timid start at Old Trafford was as much down to a misplaced backpass from right-back Matty Cash as the goalkeeper’s rash decision and was quickly congealed into an argument that Cash’s time at Villa had run its course.

However, just like Martínez’s dismissal must be seen in the context of what was until that point a tremendous goalkeeping performance, Cash’s wayward pass should be viewed as a single incident – not the only one, but just one – in an impressive Villa career.

In that light, it’s easy to see that Villa might with good reason like to upgrade in Cash’s position but also choose not to go out all guns blazing to prioritise a direct replacement. Villa need a long-term improvement but maybe they have enough to hold off until next summer.

It seems strange to say it given the strength of feeling about the need to find a better right-back than Cash, but it’s a position where Villa have both depth and tactical flexibility.

We’ve seen it in the pre-season friendlies; manager Unai Emery has deployed his right-back alternatives in various defensive configurations.

Villa’s pre-season defensive experiments

Cash has featured at right-back and been able to get forward but Villa have more often sought right-sided width from Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey in more attacking positions.

Andrés García didn’t travel to the United States because of an injury but was used in a very attacking role against Hansa Rostock while Àlex Moreno tucked round from left-back to make up a back three in possession.

Lamare Bogarde has played in midfield but also at right centre-back in both a four and a three, and at right-back. I think he’s played really rather well.

18-year-old Triston Rowe has been given lots of playing time throughout pre-season and has been regarded as one of the big plus points of the friendlies so far, albeit extremely raw and in need of on-field guidance.

Ezri Konsa has played a lot at right-back and remains an option there in an emergency. I’m sure Villa would prefer to avoid that route this season but it’s there if it’s needed.

Could Villa still look to strengthen at right-back?

That’s a long list of versatile right-backs or versions thereof but the over-arching need to increase the quality at the very top of that list remains. Villa will be tracking potential right-back purchases as keenly as ever and could yet do business in the position.

If an improvement on Cash becomes a realistic and sensible target, there’s no doubt the possibility will be explored.

It’s also important to acknowledge that there’s every chance Bogarde is preferred in another position and that Rowe might be loaned out for the season. If both of those come to pass, the picture changes completely and all bets are off.

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