Aston Villa ‘struggling’ to offload unwanted £8m signing as Everton handed two fresh boosts

Aston Villa will be desperate to bounce back this weekend.

Steven Gerrard’s men suffered an opening day defeat to AFC Bournemouth, and that was not the start they will have wanted.

This weekend, Villa take on Everton in their first home clash of the season, and both clubs will go into that one needing to get their win column up and running.

In the meantime, Villa will still be keeping an eye on the market to see if they can add to their squad even further.

With that in mind, we have rounded up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding Villa Park:

El Ghazi latest

Villa are said to be pushing for a deal to sell Anwar El Ghazi.

El Ghazi is not part of Gerrard’s plans for the coming season, and it seems squad and financial space will take priority.

According to the Birmingham Mail, Villa are struggling to get rid of the winger, who has been at Villa Park since 2019.

It’s reported Villa haven’t found any club willing to pay to land the Dutchman, who has just one year remaining on his current contract.

Villa may need to get creative.

Everton boosts

Everton have completed two signings ahead of their clash with Villa.

Conor Coady has joined from Wolves, while Amadou Onana also being snapped up, issuing a big boost to the Toffees ahead of their trip to the Midlands.

“James [Tarkowski] has been in all pre-season and has shown his personality, as well as his on-field abilities,” said Frank Lampard ahead of the clash.

“In the short time Conor has been here - just a few days - he’s been a great one for me because normally you have to do a lot of reference checks on players to find out what type of people they are.

“It took me about five minutes to speak to Conor and understand the type of person he is - and I knew it before the phone call, if I’m honest. The minute he came up as an opportunity for us, it was a huge deal for me and the Club.

“The conversation we had was relatively short. I remember going against him while I was manager of Chelsea during COVID times with no fans - and it struck me, his voice on the pitch and how much he drove his team. And, obviously, he’s a quality player, a regular in the England squad.

“I spoke to him and became aware of his situation, I told him what I thought about him as a player and what we’re trying to do at Everton. With Amadou [Onana] as well, the personality he’s shown as a young man, with a real positive, infectious attitude straight away.

“It’s not all about that [the character of a player] but it’s a big part of what we’re trying to do - to bring the right people to the club to drive it forward. We’re happy in terms of the business we’ve done so far to that point.”