Unai Emery has been nominated for the 2026 Ballon d'Or Men's Coach of the Year award. The Villa manager ended the club's 30-year wait for a trophy by winning the Europa League in May and delivered a fourth-place Premier League finish. Johan Manzambi, who signed from Freiburg in the summer for a club record fee of just over £50m, has also been nominated for Men's Young Talent of the Year.
Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi has been nominated for the Men's Young Talent of the Year award ahead of the 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony. The 20-year-old is one of three Premier League players to be named in the 10-player shortlist, alongside Manchester City's Ayyoub Bouaddi and Aston Villa's Johan Manzambi. After making his Bournemouth debut in August 2025, Kroupi made 35 appearances and scored 13 goals across all competitions last season.
Ollie Watkins' departure to Al-Hilal - which lurched between acrimonious and emotional - has left Aston Villa without their best attacking outlet. Despite just one goal in his first 13 top-flight games last season, he ended up netting 16, leaving him on 91 Premier League goals - a club record. Nicolas Jackson was brought in as Watkins' direct replacement and was a priority signing for Unai Emery, having worked together at Villarreal.
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