'Total standby' - Aston Villa's hopes of landing £22m transfer coup in doubt amid Fabrizio Romano claim

Aston Villa's pursuit of talented Sevilla defender Loic Bade has hit a huge stumbling block despite previous optimism that a deal was likely to take place in this window.

The Villans are actively searching for centre-back reinforcements after the departure of Brazilian Diego Carlos and have returned to a familiar hunting ground to try and sign highly-rated French youngster Bade.

Birmingham World understands Villa have been tracking the 24-year-old for a number of months after his impressive display in the Olympic Games in Paris. Unai Emery is thought to rate the Europa League winning defender very highly and had high hopes of beating the likes of Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United to the signature of the ex-Nottingham Forest man.

Aston Villa suffer transfer setback

Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reports that Aston Villa’s initial offer €23m plus €3m in add-ons (a total of around £22m) has been rejected swiftly by Sevilla.

He also understands that Villa had approached Bade directly with a potential contract offer, but adds that Le Havre had declined the proposal.

Romano broke the news on X: “Loïc Badé deal between Aston Villa and Sevilla, not advancing and currently in total stand-by. The player has also not accepted the proposal. Aston Villa’s bid was worth €23m plus €3m add-ons.”

Will Aston Villa submit an improved offer?

As it stands, Aston Villa’s negotiations with Sevilla have hit a standstill, leaving the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle United and potentially French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the driving seat to prise the defender away from the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

However, Aston Villa still have over a week to get the deal over the line and are likely to return with an improved offer to try and bolster their defence. As it stands, after the sale of Diego Carlos, Villa have the injured Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Kosta Nedelijkovic at their disposal, leaving Unai Emery short on options as he tries to secure a top four finish and further progression in the Champions League and FA Cup.

Birmingham World revealed earlier this week that Loic Bade has a release clause of around £50m in his contract at Sevilla, but adds that the Spanish heavyweights could be willing to sell the defender for slightly less as long as their price tag is met.

Sevilla are 11th in La Liga, 13 points adrift of the Champions League places and seven points away from the dropzone. They are aware of Bade’s desire to play European football but are hoping to make a healthy profit on the £12m that they paid 18 months ago in January 2023.

At this stage, it is not yet clear what it will take for Villa to get the defender on board but it is likely that they will have to submit a vastly superior offer to bring him to the West Midlands this month. Elsewhere, Villa have also learned that they will have to pay in excess of £55m to sign Southampton prodigy Tyler Dibling after his impressive first half of the season at St Mary’s Stadium.