Is now the time for Emery to prioritise integration over cup results?
· Yahoo Sports
"His time is coming," said Unai Emery when asked about Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
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The £30m defender has had to wait for his chance at Aston Villa, following his move from Southampton, but he now has the opportunity to prove his worth.
He is expected to make his debut against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, having endured a frustrating start to life at Villa Park.
Left out of the Champions League squad and yet to feature since his arrival, the 24-year-old has already had his patience tested just over two weeks after joining.
Bought to replace Ezri Konsa after his £51m move to Arsenal, Harwood-Bellis could provide stability at the back following a damaging weekend.
Aston Villa conceded 22 shots against Nottingham Forest in the 2-1 defeat, after conceding 21 shots in their opening weekend collapse at Brighton.
It will be a untried defence at CBS Arena, with left-back Matteo Ruggeri likely to make his full debut alongside Harwood-Bellis.
It is the problem Emery faces; trying to integrate his new players while needing to get quick results following a poor start to the season.
He has faith in his players but the pressure will be on Harwood-Bellis to perform, as he returns to the Premier League after a chastening previous campaign in the top flight.
When Southampton managed to pick up just 12 points and finished bottom of the Premier League in 2024-25, Harwood-Bellis made four errors leading to goals.
That season he made an average of 0.9 tackles a game, compared to Konsa's 1.0, and made 1.4 blocks and 4.5 clearances per 90 minutes.
A ball-playing centre-back, he made an average of 67.6 passes per game - a figure comfortably clear of Konsa's 50 passes per game.
[BBC]Along with young striker Brian Madjo and fellow defender Modou Cisse, Harwood-Bellis was left out for Europe by Emery as the head coach failed to find room.
"Because in Europe you can have 23 players and in the league not," Emery said. "[Mikel] Arteta wanted to open it for more players. We needed to take off someone, and it was Taylor.
"It is hard, the decision we took, and for the players. The experience we have here, when we were without Malen, Andres. To decide, it is through the analysis of how we are expecting to be until January.
"We are going to play eight matches. Cisse is not in because he is injured. Madjo is still injured for the next two weeks minimum. Taylor arrived as the last one, and we can get the balance with Lamare Bogarde, and we can even play Kamara.
"We tried to analyse it deeply. Taylor will be here for a long time, and hopefully, we will have the opportunity to play in Europe with us, in January maybe, and the next few years."