All of this is a far cry from the euphoria of Istanbul in May, and that is what adds to the feeling of bemusement about how significant the changes have been to Aston Villa's squad and how quickly it has occurred.

Last season was their most successful since 1982, when they won the old European Cup.

This time round, it was a Europa League win and a fourth-place Premier League finish - each of those achievements would have been enough to guarantee the riches and prestige of Champions League football.

Unai Emery was lauded as a hero by Villa fans even before last spring's spectacular, and rightly so.

He has won the Europa League title five times with three different clubs. A key question now is whether his downbeat assessment following the humbling by Brighton is indicative of a wider concern.

Clearly, Emery was upset with Ollie Watkins, and it currently seems a tall order for the striker to be reintegrated into the Villa squad, having made his desire to leave clear.

But more worrying is the overriding sense that Emery is struggling with the lack of options he has at his disposal right now.

After all that he has achieved at the club, his reward has been widespread disruption within the squad after four key player departures, potentially more to come, and limited finances.

Emery described it as having "had an intelligent market", amid efforts by the club to strengthen the squad before the deadline. "We know where we are and we know what we want to do again for the next year," he said.

There is mitigation for Villa's bosses, however, who have been frustrated by PSR rules, which they feel have been an ambition killer and stalled their progress.

The switch to Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rules this season has only added to that and caused deeper resentment.

As regulars in European competition now, they are limited to spending 70 per cent of their football revenue on transfer fees and player wages.

Remember, they have already been fined twice by UEFA recently, being hit with a £9.5m penalty last year and a £19.4m fine in June, although £13m of that was suspended after Villa came to a settlement agreement.

That means, inevitably, Villa are a club that has to generate income from player trading in order to buy new talent.

The proof of that is in the figures from sales over the last three years; Villa have made over £410m selling the likes of Douglas Luiz, Jhon Duran, Jacob Ramsey and Moussa Diaby, before this summer's sale of Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne.

Should Emiliano Martinez and Ollie Watkins follow, that number will be close to the half-a-billion mark, in terms of funds generated.

It is a big ask for Emery to see the castle that he has built taken down keystone by keystone, knowing he has to rebuild again. Last summer, the transfer upheaval contributed to the director of football Monchi leaving the club.

Importantly, Villa currently feel confident their manager is secure. After all, his contract has another three seasons to run, following the bumper new five-year deal he signed in May 2024.

But many of the biggest clubs in Europe have noticed with admiration the job Emery has done at Villa Park, and he will always be on the shortlist of the top clubs for as long as he keeps doing such a stellar job under the circumstances.