Aston Villa will be keen on a fresh start under Unai Emery, looking to move on from the wholly unsuccessful reign of Steven Gerrard.

However, one thing the Spaniard could look to maintain from the previous tenure is some of the transfer targets, as it was a summer of undoubted change for the Villans.

Five new faces came into Villa Park, with Diego Carlos and Philippe Coutinho expected to be catalysts for huge change.

Despite this, their continued interest in Ismaila Sarr would have added yet another game-changer to their ranks. Having agreed to a deal in August, in the end the Senegalese star did not earn his move back to the Premier League.

But with reports surfacing at the end of October, the Midlands outfit will look to maintain their curiosity and watch his World Cup performances with interest.

Should Emery sign this long-term target, it could mark the second coming of Ashley Young, who too boasted incredible speed and a wicked right foot, as well as the ability to play off both wings.

There would be hope that Sarr might replicate the form of the former Manchester United man in the 2007/08 season, where he scored eight and assisted a sensational 16 times.

Although he is yet to boast a season like this in his career, the 24-year-old has shown glimpses of his quality across stints in both the Championship and the Premier League.

This season has already seen him notch nine goal contributions in just 17 games as Watford look to earn an instant return to the top flight.

During their relegation season, the 6-foot wide man managed a respectable seven goal contributions in just 22 games.

Perhaps his most infamous performance across his 50 appearances in the Premier League was against Liverpool, where the Hornets handed the Reds their first loss of the 2019/20 campaign in sensational fashion.

Scoring twice and assisting the third, he more than earned a match-best 9.1 SofaScore rating. Sarr truly announced himself on this day as he bullied Virgil van Dijk with his physicality on the break, winning five of his eight duels.

This season spurred journalist Rob Blanchette to label the speedster “young, hungry and electric”, willing Manchester United to purchase him.

However, it seems like Villa remains in the driving seat and looks set to go in for the £40k-per-week star again after the World Cup.

He could finally provide the maverick nature seldom seen since prime Young departed and could be the newest catalyst to bring in the new era at Villa Park.