Aston Villa midfielders Leander Dendoncker and Douglas Luiz will be important players for new manager Unai Emery, believes journalist Dean Jones.

The former joined the club in the summer, while the latter recently signed a contract extension, and Jones thinks they will both have big roles under Emery this season.

GiveMeSport The Verdict

GiveMeSport The Verdict

Were Dendoncker and Luiz important players for Steven Gerrard?

Luiz certainly was. During Gerrard's time at Villa Park, the Brazilian made 38 appearances.

As already mentioned, he also put pen to paper on a new long-term deal, showing that he was a part of Gerrard's plans.

The same cannot necessarily be said about Dendoncker, though, with Gerrard failing to hand him a single start before his dismissal.

The 27-year-old will be hoping it is a different story under Emery and that he can cement a spot in Villa's starting XI.

What has Jones said about Dendoncker, Luiz and Emery?

Jones thinks midfield is one thing Emery will look to fix at Villa and can see him turning to both Dendoncker and Luiz to help him do that.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT about whether the Spaniard can sort out the Villans' current issues, the journalist said: "I think that's what Emery will be good at. He's somebody who can look at a group of players and he can be tactically flexible on what needs to be fixed and what can improve them, and I think he'll look at that [the midfield] as an obvious thing.

"Players like Dendoncker and Douglas Luiz, I think, are actually going to be really important players to him and probably will both improve quite considerably once he gets his hands on them."

Can Dendoncker and Luiz thrive under Emery?

They certainly can. Both Dendoncker and Luiz, who cost Villa £13m and £15m respectively (via BBC Sport), are very good players.

Dendoncker is pretty versatile, able to play in midfield and defence. He is also quite tidy in possession, averaging a pass success rate of just under 87% last season, which was one of the highest percentages in Wolves' squad (via WhoScored).

As for Luiz, his pass success rate was very similar to his team-mate's, while he averaged 1.7 tackles per game, so it is easy to see what the Brazil international brings to this Villa side.

All in all, it is probably fair to say that Emery has some very capable midfielders at his disposal.