Aston Villa’s transfer chances of landing La Liga star assessed amid fresh Douglas Luiz verdict

Aston Villa have begun a new era following the appointment of Unai Emery.

Villa paid more than £5million in compensation to lure the former Arsenal boss from Villarreal, and he will already be getting to work ahead of this weekend’s tricky clash with in-form Newcastle United. Emery will also be doing some early homework on how he can improve his squad in the January transfer window, likely wanting to put his own stamp on his new deal.

We still have plenty of time until then, but in the meantime, we have taken a look at all the latest transfer news and rumours.

Pino links assessed

Fabrizio Romano has spoken about Villa’s surprise links with Villarreal star Yeremy Pino.

“With a new manager coming in, we’re already seeing speculation about Aston Villa’s transfer targets for January, with some talk of Unai Emery raiding his old club Villarreal for Yeremi Pino,” Romano told CaughtOffside.

“Honestly, it’s really too early to know the targets; the agreement for Emery was done just 48 hours ago and as always, there are rumours on players who have been working with that manager. It’s typical but we will know more in January!”

Luiz verdict

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has been speaking about some of Villa’s talent, including Douglas Luiz, who was linked with Arsenal in January.

“They have flair players, look at someone like Douglas Luiz, we were trying to get him, that’s how good he is, he is very good,” he said on Wrighty’s House Podcast. “Leon Bailey, you’ve seen how good he is.”

Luiz recently signed a new contract to remain at Villa Park long term, putting to bed the transfer links after those failed late offers from Arsenal in the winter. It will be interesting to see if he can kick on with new boss Emery.