Aston Villa's top-four finish in the Premier League has opened up a new world of possibilities for Unai Emery and his squad, who will now seek to consolidate their exciting new position among Europe's elite.
Entering this brave new world has its caveats and it has its setbacks, with the Villans likely needing to trim some superfluous parts to stay in line with the ever-imposing PSR rules.
Diego Carlos and Jacob Ramsey have recently been linked with moves away, the former due to his £100k-per-week salary and 2023/24 struggles and Villa's boyhood star due to growing interest in his signature – Liverpool are among the contenders – and his homegrown status, which would bring a pure-profit recoup for V Sports.
But hang on, you cry. Villa have just qualified for the Champions League, transcending the hopes and dreams of the staunch support after club talisman Jack Grealish was sold to Manchester City in a £100m transfer in 2021, his sale preceding managerial dismissals of Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard.
This is the tortuous road that football now travels down. Aston Villa might need to juggle a few pieces, but they can certainly move for new players, with one currently lined up.
Villa lining up exciting winger
According to Spanish publications AS and Grada1 – via Sport Witness – Villa have registered an interest in Girona's Viktor Tsygankov, who has been valued at €28m (£24m) by the La Liga high-fliers after growing interest in his services.
Emery's side faces competition, however, with Premier League rivals West Ham United and Wolverhampton also eyeing up the 26-year-old, with the outfits ready to launch official proposals for his signature.
Tsygankov will compete for Ukraine at the 2024 European Championship and will likely settle his future after his nation's campaign, and Villa will be ready.
Viktor Tsygankov's season in numbers
Tsygankov signed for Girona in January 2023, joining from Dynamo Kyiv in his homeland for a bargain fee of €5m (£4m), having scored 94 goals and added 64 assists across 234 matches for the Ukrainian outfit after graduating from their youth academy.
He enjoyed a fruitful start to life in Spain after posting three goals and six assists from 19 matches in the Spanish top flight across the second half of last term, influential in helping the Whites and Reds toward a tenth-place finish in their first year back from a three-year struggle in the Segunda Division.
After joining the City Football Group in 2017, Girona have soared beyond the wildest dreams of supporters, revelling in the glow of financial investment but booming through Michel and Quique Carcel's tidy manager-sporting director relationship that has overseen sharp recruitment translated to on-pitch performance.
Tsygankov is not the most prolific of players, clinching six goals and six assists apiece across 29 La Liga matches this season, though he has also created 11 big chances, completed 83% of his passes and averaged 1.1 key passes, one tackle and 3.5 ball recoveries per game, as per Sofascore, showcasing his athletic prowess and commitment levels.
It's this calibre of performance that has led journalist Ben Mattinson to hail him as a “seriously talented” player just waiting for the big move to propel him to the top of the game – though, in fairness, he's already starring in a team that has defied the odds to clinch Champions League football.
But why are Emery and Villa's President of Football Operations Monchi seeking to strengthen with this particular signing?
Why Villa are interested in Viktor Tsygankov
Given that Leon Bailey has shouldered a heavy burden down the right flank at Villa Park this season and the versatile Nicolo Zaniolo is set to depart following the conclusion of his loan spell, moving for Tsygankov could be a very shrewd move to strengthen the squad.
Monchi has already demonstrated that he is not going to fall foul to the temptations of splurging on big names purely for the sake of rubber-stamping the newfound position of prominence. This has already been proven through the pursuit of Ross Barkley, with the former loanee closing on a return to the Midlands after an excellent year with Luton Town.
Tsygankov would mark another piece of business that could initially go under the radar while growing to win over the Villan faithful, with his creativity and agility offering an extra dimension to a multi-faceted team.
One of the principal strengths that would be found in signing Tsygankov would be the inevitable partnership with Ollie Watkins, who has enjoyed a first-class campaign as the Villa spearhead, winning the side's Player of the Season and bagging 27 goals in all competitions, also adding 13 assists.
1.
Cole Palmer
34
22
11
33
2.
Ollie Watkins
37
19
13
32
2.
Erling Haaland
31
27
5
32
4.
Mohamed Salah
32
18
10
28
6.
Heung-min Son
35
17
10
27
6.
Phil Foden
35
19
8
27
It's incredible that Watkins finished joint-second in the Premier League's most goals and assists this season, especially given the level of competition he was up against and the fact that the season before, the England international yielded 21 contributions from 37 games, finishing tenth in that ranking.
His dynamism and ability to switch up his direct threat and creative flair has led The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell to hail him as "virtually unplayable", and by providing him with a new partner in Tsygankov, there's no telling how productive he might be next term.
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Bailey created 12 big chances in the Premier League while averaging 1.5 key passes per game, so Tsygankov definitely produces adequate numbers to succeed, slotting right into Emery's system.
Now, efforts simply have to be made to bypass the competition and bring the Ukraine star to Villa Park.