Aston Villa defender Ian Maatsen has insisted they can no longer consider themselves as underdogs and could even challenge for the Premier League title.
Voetbal Nieuws has the full-back’s interview with Viaplay in the Netherlands regarding Aston Villa’s goals for the current campaign. After making it into the Champions League the previous season, Unai Emery’s team has experienced a significant amount of change this summer.
Eight new players have arrived for a sum of €176.2m while 15 have departed, including key players from last season such as Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz.
It means there are questions about whether they can kick on and improve on the top four this season, with Aston Villa clearly deciding to focus on a younger squad to be developed for the future.
There’s been no signs of issues yet as Emery’s side beat West Ham 2-1 on the opening weekend before putting in a solid performance in their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend.
And Maatsen, one of the major summer arrivals, has no concerns and believes he and his teammates are good enough to be competing for the title.
“I think we know each other well,” he said.
That we have a really close bond and want to work for each other. If everyone is on the right track, then we are a team that can make it very difficult for the big teams.
“That is also what we want to measure ourselves against. I think we are not underdogs. Everyone knows that we are a good team and always want to win.”
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