Aston Villa 'keeping close tabs' on £42m-rated midfield wizard as manager exit could trigger summer sale

Aston Villa have the opportunity to freshen up their squad this summer. They could look to bring in some new faces to add more competition to their ranks. The Midlands outfit also have the opportunity to sell or loan out some players.

Unai Emery has been in charge at Villa Park since they appointed him back in 2022. He has since done an impressive job and will want to get his team back into the Champions League next season. They missed out on the top five in the last campaign.

Aston Villa eye move for Brentford attacking midfielder Mikel Damsgaard

Aston Villa are ‘keeping close tabs’ on £42million-rated Brentford attacking midfielder Mikel Damsgaard, according to CaughtOffside. Emery could look to snap up the Denmark international, who has 32 caps under his belt. The report adds that Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and West Ham are also keen, as well as Serie A pair Inter Milan and Napoli.

Damsgaard, 24, joined the Bees back in 2022 and has turned out to be a shrewd addition. He has made 97 appearances in all competitions, 43 of which came last term, and he has scored three goals. His contract at the Brentford Community Stadium expires in 2030 which means they are under no pressure to sell him just yet and can wait for the right offer to come in for his signature.

Thomas Frank is poised to join Tottenham Hotspur which could throw a spanner in the works regarding Damsgaard’s future. Frank is believed to be interested in taking him with him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs have identified him as the man they want to replace Ange Postecoglou.

Would Brentford’s Mikel Damsgaard suit Aston Villa?

Aston Villa could see Damsgaard as someone to bring in some more quality. He would give them more competition and depth if he signed for them. In addition, he would offer something different going forward.

The Jyllinge-born man joined his local team as a youngster before rising up theough the academy ranks of Nordsjaelland. He was a regular at various different youth levels before breaking into the first-team. Damsgaard went on to play 93 matches as a teenager and found the net on 13 occasions.

His emergence in the Danish Superliga resulted in Sampdoria moving for him in 2020. He then spent two years in Italy and scored two goals in 49 outings before Brentford came calling. He isn’t a regular goal scorer but does create chances for his teammates.

The Bees handed him a new deal back in January. At the time, Frank said: “I am very happy that Mikkel has signed a new contract with us. This season, he is starting to show what we believed we’d get from him. We knew that wouldn’t happen straight away because of the time he was out before he came here, but it ended up being longer than expected - both for him and us.

“Mikkel was then unlucky with another injury but, after two years of relatively consistent training and a good environment - and with patience both ways - we are now seeing the fruit of the work. He has been one of our best players this season; we are very dangerous when he is playing.”