Leeds are interested in landing an Aston Villa ace with 99 appearances for the club

Argentinian midfielder Emi Buendia is expected to leave Aston Villa this summer after a five-year-association with the club.

The former Norwich City midfielder made just 12 league appearances across the entirety of last season for Unai Emery’s side and hasn’t started a top-flight match since a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in May 2023 after missing the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign with an ACL injury.

The 28-year-old spent the second half of last season out on loan with German Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen where he showed signs of promise but failed to earn a permanent move following Erik ten Hag’s arrival as head coach.

Leeds United plot move for Emi Buendia

Newly-promoted Premier League outfit Leeds United, who were crowned Championship winners last term, have been named the leading candidates for Emi Buenida after missing out on him in the January transfer window, per a report from Caught Offside. The Whites are crucially managed by German coach Daniel Farke, who knows Buendia very well from his time as manager of Norwich City.

Farke got the best out of Buendia at Carrow Road and was his manager during the 2020/21 campaign when he scored 15 goals and registered 16 assists in 41 Championship games to win the league title and the division’s Player of the Season award. It was this form which inspired then Aston Villa boss Dean Smith to splash out a club-record fee rising to £38m with potential add-ons to bring Buendia to the club.

"Emiliano has just completed an outstanding season in a championship-winning Norwich side with 31 combined goals and assists and was named player of the season across the league," then Villa head coach Dean Smith said at the time.

"He is equally capable as a wide attacker or as a number 10 and is a great addition to our attacking options. We are delighted to have made such an exciting signing so early in the summer and look forward to Emi joining up with us for a full pre-season."

What went wrong for Emi Buendia at Aston Villa?

Aston Villa beat off competition from Arsenal to secure Emi Buendia’s signature in a signing which looked to be a real statement of intent after Jack Grealish’s £100m departure to Manchester City.

Buendia had decent moments in his first full season with four goals and six assists across all competitions and followed that up with five goals and three assists the following season. However, he became increasingly seen as an impact player under Unai Emery in the 2022/23 as the club finished in seventh and found increasingly challenging after his ACL injury as players such as Morgan Rogers emerged ahead of him in the pecking order.

Buendia has not necessarily been a flop in an Aston Villa shirt but he’s simply struggled to live up to the expectations of the £38m price tag while injuries have seen other players leapfrog him in the pecking order.

Ultimately, a move to Leeds could be the perfect solution to Villa at a time where they need to sign players and to Buendia at a time when he needs to restore his career as a top-flight player. Caught Offside understands Buendia is valued at around £20m which is just over half of the reported £38m Villa paid Norwich to bring him into the side.