As the new season drew closer, Aston Villa's transfer activity was finally crossing the finish line.
During the summer window, the Sporting Director had aggressively overhauled the squad, securing several high-profile signings.
They broke the bank for 22-year-old Brazilian striker Wesley, bringing him in from Belgian side Club Brugge for €25 million, making him Villa's most expensive summer acquisition.
They also finalized the permanent transfer of Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth for €22.3 million to anchor the backline.
With veteran midfielder Mile Jedinak officially hanging up his boots and retiring, the club moved fast to sign 21-year-old Douglas Luiz from Manchester City for €16.8 million.
They further bolstered the defense by purchasing 23-year-old English left-back Matt Targett from Southampton for €15.5 million, alongside 21-year-old center-back Ezri Konsa from Brentford for €13.3 million.
To cap it off, Zimbabwean international Marvelous Nakamba was brought in from Club Brugge for €12 million.
As fresh blood arrived, the old guard cleared out.
Alongside Jedinak's retirement, 35-year-old Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan packed his bags for Hearts on a free transfer, and 34-year-old Scottish defender Alan Hutton was released to free agency.
On July 25th, Aston Villa's grueling pre-season training camp officially kicked off.
Before the first session, manager Dean Smith had the new boys introduce themselves, then immediately ran the squad into the ground.
Having just returned from their long vacations, the players were nowhere near match fitness.
Smith didn't even bother with the footballs at first, focusing entirely on endless jogging and heavy strength conditioning.
After two months of pure rest, some players were in a shocking state.
Jack Grealish was the worst offender.
He had spent nearly every day of the off-season getting pissed in various island bars, and his once-chiseled eight-pack had melted away, replaced by the undeniable beginnings of a soft beer belly.
Smith made sure he suffered for it during the cardio drills.
After three days of pure hell to strip the fat off, Smith gradually introduced small-group competitive drills to help the squad rediscover their rhythm.
...
Two days later, the pre-season friendlies began.
Villa's first warm-up was a closed-doors match against Charlton at the training ground, designed purely to assess the new signings and academy kids.
Key figures like Theodore Bjorn, John McGinn, and a still-sweating Grealish were left out of the squad.
After ninety minutes, Villa cruised to a 4-1 victory.
The new €25 million man, Wesley, bagged a hat-trick, proving he had the sheer physical presence to bully English defenders.
Three days later, they played Walsall from League Two, grinding out a 2-1 win.
For Dean Smith, the results didn't matter. The matches simply proved the boys were getting their lungs back.
To truly test the first team's tactical cohesion, Villa scheduled a final, high-profile friendly against Serie A heavyweights Napoli.
The match was held at a packed Villa Park, with the club offering free entry to get the fans roaring again.
Smith didn't start Theodore.
Instead, he fielded Grealish, McGinn, and Wesley to see how the new attacking trident would cope.
From the opening whistle, Villa were completely suffocated.
Napoli pressed them into the dirt, giving the midfield no room to breathe.
In the sixteenth minute, Napoli drew blood.
The goal came from Lorenzo Insigne. Despite his small stature, the Italian international possessed terrifying footwork and explosive pace.
He completely exploited Villa's towering, heavy-footed defenders, cutting inside from the left flank and unleashing a vicious curling shot that tore into the top corner.
Five minutes later, it got worse.
Napoli doubled their lead through José Callejón. After bringing down a long, raking pass from center-back Nikola Maksimović, Callejón turned on the burners, leaving Mings and Konsa eating dust before elegantly chipping the ball over the onrushing keeper.
Both sides were fielding a mix of starters and squad players, but the truth was glaringly obvious: without Theodore Bjorn pulling the strings and Abraham up top, Aston Villa looked entirely soulless.
The buildup play was clunky, and Grealish, still shaking off his holiday hangover, lost nearly every physical duel in the center of the park.
At halftime, trailing 2-0, Smith had seen enough.
He hooked Grealish and sent Theodore onto the pitch.
The impact was instantaneous!
Aston Villa's chaotic attack suddenly had a pulse!
In the 67th and 78th minutes, Theodore dropped deep, scanned the pitch, and delivered two laser beams from the midfield, cutting the Napoli defense to ribbons.
Both passes found the feet of Wesley.
The young Brazilian shared similar traits with Abraham—standing at an imposing 191cm, he had the raw explosiveness and muscle to hold off defenders.
Put straight through on goal twice by Theodore's vision, Wesley didn't hesitate.
He buried both one-on-one chances, leveling the score at 2-2.
The match ended in a draw, but Dean Smith walked down the tunnel realizing a terrifying truth.
Aston Villa had become entirely, utterly dependent on a seventeen-year-old kid.
...
With the pre-season wrapped, Villa braced for the real war.
On August 10th, they would travel to London to kick off their Premier League campaign against Tottenham Hotspur.
Opening the season away against a Big Six powerhouse was a nightmare scenario.
Neither Smith nor the players harbored any delusions of grandeur.
During the tactical briefings, Smith hammered home a strict, defensive mindset.
Escaping the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a scrappy draw would be a massive result.
Behind the scenes, the Villa boardroom was sweating bullets.
Theodore's terrifying form had put a massive target on his back, and the European elite were circling.
Since the window opened, massive bids had been sliding across the Sporting Director's desk.
Pitarch had publicly declared Theodore untouchable, but the sharks kept biting.
Manchester City had just tabled a jaw-dropping €70 million offer.
Dropping that kind of cash on a seventeen-year-old was unprecedented, but Pep Guardiola clearly saw Theodore as a generational talent.
Pitarch told them to fuck off and rejected it outright.
..
Time bled away, and match day arrived.
Over in the UK, Sky Sports had heavily marketed the opening weekend, securing the exclusive broadcast rights and dominating the airwaves with pre-match hype.
August 10, 2019.
Inside the press room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino was practically glowing with arrogance.
"We are desperate to get this season underway," Pochettino told the flashing cameras. "Last year, we finished fourth and reached the Champions League final. This year, the board demands the Premier League title. It will be a brutal campaign, but I expect my men to make a massive statement against Villa tomorrow."
A reporter from the Birmingham Mail grabbed a microphone. "Mauricio, do you believe Aston Villa can pose a legitimate threat to your defense?"
Pochettino offered a condescending shrug. "Villa had a fantastic run in the Championship, yes. Winning the FA Cup was a nice story. But the Premier League is a different beast entirely. We are more than ready to dismantle them."
Spurs captain Hugo Lloris echoed the sentiment. "We are going to make Villa feel the terror of the Premier League. We intend to take all three points and set the tone for our season."
After the Spurs camp finished writing off their opponents, Dean Smith and Theodore took the stage.
"Dean, welcome to the Premier League," a Sky Sports reporter started. "Your first test is a formidable Tottenham side on the road. Are you genuinely confident your squad can survive tomorrow?"
"Spurs are elite, there is no denying that," Smith answered diplomatically, keeping his cards close to his chest.
"They reached a Champions League final for a reason. With players like Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, they can hurt you from anywhere. We will be disciplined, and we will defend with everything we have."
The reporter then turned his attention to the teenager sitting calmly beside the manager. "Theo, this is your first taste of top-flight football. Are you confident you can help keep Villa above the relegation zone this season?"
Theodore leaned into the microphone, his expression deadpan.
"Relegation?"
The room went quiet.
"I don't look at this squad and see a relegation battle," Theodore said, his voice cold and steady. "I'm here to drag this team into the top four."
A ripple of scornful, mocking laughter echoed through the press pool.
"Top four?" the Sky Sports reporter scoffed, unable to hide his amusement. "Theo, confidence is great, but this isn't the Championship anymore. With Villa's current roster, a Champions League spot is a mathematical fantasy."
Theodore didn't flinch.
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Football was played on the grass, not in the papers.
"Watch us," he challenged, staring the reporter down.
With that, Theodore stood up and walked off the stage, leaving Smith to awkwardly follow him out.
...
On the bus ride to the hotel, Smith leaned over the aisle, looking stressed. "Theo... do you actually believe we can crack the top four this year?"
Theodore looked out the window at the London traffic and nodded.
"Yeah. Don't you, Boss?"
Smith let out a nervous hollow laugh and turned away.
If he was being honest, he didn't believe it for a second.
The Premier League was a bloodbath. Beyond the Big Six, teams like Leicester, Wolves, and Everton were built to kill.
Add the exhaustion of the Europa League schedule, and Smith knew deep down that simply avoiding relegation would be a miracle.
Top four was madness!