sport news Gerrard insists super sub Buendia 'will start matches' for Aston Villa this ... trends now
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When you have already spent about £40million on an attacking midfielder, forking out an extra £17m to bring the best from him might appear a little steep.
Yet the prospect of losing his place in the Aston Villa team to Philippe Coutinho seems to have galvanised Emiliano Buendia.
The Argentine, who was Villa’s record signing when he joined from Norwich last summer and took the departed Jack Grealish’s No10 shirt, is a spicy, spiky character. He often has to be told to cool it in training sessions, such is his determination to win the small-sided matches.
Steven Gerrard has vowed that Emiliano Buendia 'will start matches' for Aston Villa this season
Before matches at Villa Park, he can be seen holding court with Villa’s other South Americans on the pitch as they share a pot of yerba mate, a herbal tea popular across the continent.
On the face of it, Buendia is as confident as they come but even his self-belief would have been dented by Villa boss Steven Gerrard’s desperation to sign his former Liverpool team-mate Coutinho. Both are at their best in the No 10 role behind the forwards in the 4-3-1-2 system.
So when Villa decided to take Coutinho from Barcelona permanently following a mixed five-month loan spell, there were doubts about
