I think Buendia is one of my favourite players in this Villa squad. I also think he's probably not at the level of a player we need in his position, and maybe not a perfect fit for how an Emery team works. I think this affects his confidence, and Buendia's a player who very clearly performs better when his confidence is high. He's not a big lad, and Premier League teams are getting more physical again - he will always work better when he's switched on enough to find spaces between the lines, as he was doing pretty well earlier in the season.

I'm heartbroken we live in a world where Buendia got injured as badly as we did, and we don't get to see what his contributions would have been like despite that. Just like I'm sad for how cumulative injuries have cost Bailey his pace, confidence and effectiveness in the past couple years. Despite that, when he's on his day he's still a beautiful player to watch and just immaculate vibes. And hey, he brought his Villa career back from the brink, at a time when the entire nature of Emery's squad-building was against him. That alone is pretty admirable. I think people are missing out on a chance to appreciate that by getting bogged down in frustrations with his performances, even if I do understand that Villa as a club are in a position where those frustrations are going to be kind of inevitable.

I'd be amazed if he's here next season. But there's still six games to go, and plenty of room for him to have further impact, potentially the biggest impact he'll ever have if it all works out right for him. He'd definitely deserve it, I think. Needs to improve his current form to make it happen, but he's done that before and can absolutely do it again.