Unai Emery’s penchant for rehabilitating flailing, once prodigious talents now extends to Alejandro Garnacho.Multiple sources familiar with how the Aston Villa manager works say the same thing: he enjoys, even relishes, the challenges of using his coaching methods to demystify a player’s mind and haul their career out of a nosedive. His coaching serves as a remedy, ridding the player of any baggage he may have — on or off the field.Provided he can recalibrate them — returning them “to their best level”, as Emery often puts it — all the noise encompassing the player’s life fades into the background.In fairness, it does help that Emery’s total autonomy at Villa yields a power to sanction signings that recruitment departments might otherwise advise against, or in whom executives would instinctively have reservations after character references.The Emery factor has led to Villa becoming the restoration club for those who have lost their way. In almost every transfer window under the Spaniard, they have signed a player with a high profile — sometimes ageing, sometimes young but directionless — with the primary ambition of “recovering form and confidence”, to quote another Emery maxim.It happened successfully with Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford in January 2025; less so with Jadon Sancho the next summer. Garnacho will be the third winger with Manchester United heritage and the second to play for both United and Chelsea before heading to the Midlands.In each case, the situation was complex with Emery wanting to undo any frazzled minds by unlocking them on the pitch. The plus point for Garnacho is he sits in the same category as Rashford and not Sancho. Emery was enamoured by Rashford, just as he is with Garnacho currently. Sancho, on the other hand, was a deadline-day signing upon whom Villa simply took a gamble.Emery believed that, at his best, Rashford was one of the most threatening attackers in the world. He implored senior figures to push for his acquisition, knowing an optimally functioning Rashford would have been out of Villa’s reach. The 28-year-old’s time at Villa Park proved short and sweet, even if his form, though improved, was viewed through rose-tinted glasses.