Aston Villa set to battle Newcastle United for 'Turkish Donnarumma' as transfer race develops
Aston Villa have the chance to bolster their ranks with some new faces this summer
The door will swing open for Aston Villa to sign some players when the next window opens. Unai Emery will evaluate his squad and assess where he needs to strengthen. The Midlands outfit’s current focus is on getting into the top four again in the Premier League this season.
They remain in the Champions League as well but need to turn around a 3-1 defeat against PSG in their second leg clash next week. Morgan Rogers’ goal saw them storm into a 1-0 lead in Paris on Wednesday night. However, the Ligue 1 champions fought back and looked strong on their own patch.
Aston Villa eye move for ‘Turkish Donnarumma’ this summer
Aston Villa are ‘seriously interested’ in signing Eyupspor goalkeeper Berke Ozer this summer, according to a report by Turkish news outlet Fanatik. The report adds that fellow top flight teams Newcastle United and Liverpool are also keen on the stopper who is valued at around the €12m (£10.4m) mark. He has caught the eye in the Turkish Super Lig in this campaign.
Ozer, dubbed ‘Turkish Donnarumma’ by some circles of Turkey’s national media, joined his current club in 2023 and helped them gain promotion from the second tier last year. They have since adapted well to life in the top division under former Barcelona player Arda Turan and have their sights set on getting into Europe. However, they could face a battle to keep hold of their number one later this year.
Aston Villa could see the former Turkey youth international as someone to compete with Emi Martinez ahead of the next campaign. He was on the books at Fenerbahce from 2018 to 2022 and played 20 matches for the Istanbul giants. The ‘keeper was also loaned out to Westerlo to get some experience under his belt before heading over to Portugal on a permanent basis to join Portimonense prior to heading back home with Eyupspor.
Has Aston Villa still progress in the Champions League?
Despite losing to PSG in the first leg, the goal scorer Rogers believes Aston Villa aren’t out of it just yet. He said afterwards: “We’ve got loads of belief in the changing room. We’ve got nothing to lose, no-one had us to win the tie in the first place. So, why not just go for it? That’s the mentality I have, that’s the mentality everyone has and the manager as well. We’ve just got to keep going for it and keep believing we can do it and see where it takes us. We’ve definitely got the quality to turn this around – it’s not done yet.”
He added: “We’ve got quality in our dressing room, we know that. We’re here for a reason, we’re not just here to compete. We want to fight, we want to try to win and we want to try and score goals. Normally, we’ve got enough quality in the room to cause any team in the world problems.
“I think we did at times tonight, probably liked to have a bit more, but now we’re going back home and that’s where we know our best form and the way we play is better at home this season. We’ll be looking forward to it and hopefully we can win.”