Aston Villa to complete £12.8m transfer as £68m move for Barcelona star ruled out

Marcos Acuna was linked with a move to Aston Villa last summer. A move failed to materialise but it could now be back on after the latest development. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)Marcos Acuna was linked with a move to Aston Villa last summer. A move failed to materialise but it could now be back on after the latest development. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Marcos Acuna was linked with a move to Aston Villa last summer. A move failed to materialise but it could now be back on after the latest development. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Latest Aston Villa transfer news as a bid is launched for a La Liga star - but a Barcelona defender won’t be coming.

Aston Villa are said to have made a big step towards signing Sevilla defender Marcos Acuna by making a bid for the defender.

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Spanish paper Fichajes have reported that a £12.8m bid has been made to secure the services of the Argentinian left-back. The 32-year-old has been linked with a move to Villa Park for the last 12 months and the player has previously spoken on how he was denied the opportunity to move to the Midlands.

“They were not rumours, Sevilla had an important offer that, due to personal reasons of the president and Monchi, was not closed, and I was the one affected,” said the World Cup winning defender.

“I think I didn't deserve it because a good amount of money would have come in, but that's already happened and I'm focused now on the remaining dates.”

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Monchi, who was once at Sevilla, and their president Jose Castro are said to have had 'personal issues' and that put a stop to Acuna leaving. A bid of €15m which roughly works out at around £12.8m has now been launched, and Fichajes says the player is 'about to join' with Sevilla now seeking a potential replacement.

Acuna is an international teammate of goalkeeper Emi Martinez and has 21 Champions League games under his belt as Villa search for players that are capable of making the step up. He has been at Sevilla for the last four seasons and could depart the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan having made 149 for the club with the highlight being Sevilla's UEFA Europa League win in 2023.

In other news, Aston Villa are not in the race to sign Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo, despite various reports over the course of the weekend. It was claimed that Unai Emery had suggested Araujo to the Villa board and even met with Barcelona chiefs along with Monchi to discuss potentially signing him, but that is wide of the mark.

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Spanish journalist Cristina Bea said that Villa have 'no interest' in the Uruguay defender. The 25-year-old is said to be valued at around £68m and has reported interest from Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

In a tweet, Bea said: "Aston Villa sources confirm to me that the English club has no interest in acquiring the services of Ronald Araujo. The Uruguayan central defender of Barca is not part of Unai Emery's plans. @relevo."

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