Unai Emery's aim playing Marcus Rashford and Ollie Watkins as striker-duo | OneFootball

A lot is made of who should start at Aston Villa. Each match sees a player left out who has strong backing from some of the supporters and feels that he should be in the starting XI. The switching throughout the lineup has been designed this way, as was evident by the January inclusions. Then, with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), the discussions can very quickly become about who the club should sell during the summer.

A lot can happen, and for all that is known, the club will find a way to navigate around the PSR guidelines and be able to more-or-less operate as usual. Unfortunately, at this time in the sport, there isn't too much known, and there are a lot of inconsistencies in how the Financial Fair Play aspects are implemented.

For now, it appears that Unai Emery may have indicated one direction that he hopes he can see in the near future. The attack, in particular, can be tenuous when deciding who should start and receive significant minutes on a weekly basis.

Ollie Watkins has returned and looks like a man on a mission to prove he is the best striker in the Premier League. By the same token, Marcus Rashford has looked good when asked to play up top. In general, he looks like someone whom the Spaniard will be eager to keep in Birmingham.

Aston Villa boss discusses possibility

While speaking with reporters, as shared by The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell on X, the Villa boss suggested that playing a two-striker system could be in the works. Although, at this moment it won't happen, AVFC moving from just one forward up top to two would be an interesting wrinkle to explore. Emery elaborated:

In what could be interpreted as a telling part of the statement, Emery mentions how the time element is preventing this from being considered on the pitch right now. It could suggest that the plans are to do whatever it takes to secure Rashford long-term and then have him paired with Watkins at some point for the 2025-2026 campaign.

He is taking the time to share his thought process while suggesting (in this case, outright saying) that it is the next step. Considering the season is coming to an end and the Aston Villa manager would like to give this idea a go, it could be something that's worked on this upcoming summer.