Aston Villa have undergone an incredible transformation since the arrival of Unai Emery, going from relegation candidates to qualifying for the Europa Conference League last season.
Now, in their first full season under Emery, they’ll be hoping to get even better. The last thing the Midlands club needed was an injury to a key player, though, making Tyrone Mings’ lengthy spell on the sideline all the more frustrating
As the transfer window edges closer and closer to slamming shut, Villa look to have solved their centre-back dilemma, however.
What’s the latest Aston Villa transfer news?
It sums up just how strong the Premier League is these days that Aston Villa managed to land the likes of Moussa Diaby, Pau Torres and Nicolo Zaniolo, but you could say the Villans have more than earned the right to sign players of such calibre.
In fact, since the turn of the year, only Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side have won more than Aston Villa’s 49 points in the Premier League. With that, it is clear that Emery has built a squad capable of enjoying the company of England’s elite when at their very best.
Now, they could be about to get even stronger, with a breakthrough in their pursuit of Clement Lenglet following initial talks.
According to Fabrizio Romano on Wednesday, Aston Villa have reached an agreement to sign the Barcelona defender on a season-long loan deal, with Lenglet set to travel to the Midlands for his medical.
The Frenchman, of course, spent last season on loan at Tottenham Hotspur, and, therefore, has plenty of Premier League experience to add to Emery’s side at Villa Park.
“Clement Lenglet to Aston Villa, here we go! Agreement reached on loan deal as Lenglet will travel later today. Negotiations revealed yesterday now set to be sealed, waiting for documents to be signed. Player already agreed.”
Given Mings’ extended spell on the sidelines, signing Lenglet appears to be a smart piece of business from Villa’s point of view. The fact that it is set to be a loan deal, too, means that Emery won’t be overloaded with options upon the return of his club captain.
On loan at Spurs last season, Lenglet earned plenty of praise, too, including from John Wenham, who told Football Insider:
“I have been really thinking about this, I want to give credit to Clement Lenglet.
“It was his first North London derby. I don’t watch every weekend but when I do, or I see the highlights, Bukayo Saka is always their most influential attacking player.
He certainly was last season and I thought Clement Lenglet, on the whole, kept him fairly quiet, especially in the first half.
“I just wanted to give credit because I think his performance went a little bit under the radar. I have been impressed with him so far.
“The fact he has instantly come in for Ben Davies and we don’t look any weaker, that is a huge credit to him really.
“He’s a new signing to the Premier League, I know he has a lot of experience from Barcelona and with France but he already seems very reliable, like we could drop him in for any fixture.”
With that said, Villa look set to welcome yet another solid arrival before the transfer window closes, potentially ending what has been an excellent summer for Emery and co.
Aston Villa have until 11 pm on Friday night to complete any of their remaining business before the summer transfer window officially slams shut.
Who have Aston Villa signed this summer?
Spanish head coach Unai Emery has bolstered his squad with the additions of Moussa Diaby, Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres, and Nicolo Zaniolo so far
There could be more players added to the group before the deadline passes later this week, though, as they have been linked with a swoop for a new attacker.
It was recently reported that the Villans are interested in a deal to sign winger Ansu Fati from Spanish giants Barcelona, with Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur also in the race for his signature.
The Spain international is reportedly valued at €50m (£43m) by the LaLiga outfit, who are considering a move to sanction his exit before Friday night.
How good is Ansu Fati?
Emery could repeat the club’s blinder with Diaby, who has hit the ground running at Villa Park, by securing a deal to sign Fati as he is a proven performer in a major European league and has room to improve further.
The 20-year-old wizard could provide a huge goalscoring threat from the wing and has the versatility to play through the middle as a centre-forward if required.
Since making the breakthrough at Barcelona, the talented youngster, who was described as a “generational player” by manager Xavi, has racked up an impressive 22 goals and seven assists in 32 LaLiga starts, with 80 appearances in total.
Over the last 365 days, Fati ranks within the top 1% of his positional peers in the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions for non-penalty xG (0.55) per 90. This essentially means that he excels at getting himself into high-quality goalscoring positions on a regular basis, which is backed up by his superb goal-to-start ratio in LaLiga.
The Spanish wizard, who produced four goals and three assists in nine matches for Barcelona’s U19 side, is a player who seemingly has the quality to make an instant impact at Villa Park in the same way that Diaby has since his move from Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
Since moving from the Bundesliga, where he racked up 31 goals and 38 assists in 125 matches, the France international has caught the eye for Emery’s side.
Diaby has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.63 across his first three Premier League games for Villa as he has produced two goals and one assist, whilst the exciting gem has also created three ‘big chances’ for his teammates
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