Fabrizio Romano: Aston Villa 'keen' in £114m star as ambitious transfer eyed

Aston Villa are preparing for the start of the new season. They have Champions League football to look forward to.

Unai Emery’s side finished fourth in the table last term behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Here is a look at some of the latest news and rumours coming out of the club...

Attacker latest

Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix has emerged as a potential transfer ‘option’ for Aston Villa this summer, according to reporter Fabrizio Romano on X. Emery could look to lure the La Liga man to Villa Park over the course of the next couple of months as he looks to further bolster his ranks.

Felix, who is 24, rose up through the ranks at Benfica and broke into their first-team as a youngster before going on to make 43 appearances in all competitions, chipping in with 20 goals.

His current club then swooped to sign him for a staggering £114m in 2019 and he has since played 131 games for Diego Simeone’s side, finding the net on 34 occasions, and helping them win the title back in 2021. He has been loaned out over the past couple of years to Chelsea and Barcelona respectively and his future is now up in the air.

Goalkeeper linked

According to Argentinian news outlet Ultima Jugada (via villareport on X), Aston Villa are being linked with a move for goalkeeper Matías Daniele. The 20-year-old is currently on the books at Club Atlético Belgrano and could be seen as a useful long-term option between the sticks. His side finished 13th in the top flight last term but could face a battle to keep hold of one of their youngsters in this window.

Centre-back on radar

Football Insider claim Aston Villa are ‘keen’ on a move for Juventus defender Dean Huijsen along with rivals Liverpool. The 19-year-old is being tipped for a bright future in the game and joined Juve back in 2021 as a teenager from Malaga.

Huijsen was born in Amsterdam, Holland, but moved to Spain as a child. He has played once for the first-team of Juve so far and was loaned out to Roma in the last campaign to get some experience under his belt. The Holland youth international played 14 times for the Serie A giants to help boost his development.

Speaking about transfers back in May, Emery said: “We have to arrange what we are doing with Financial Fair play at the start. Then, through that, we must be intelligent and build a new team. We are not thinking to add or sign players. We are trying to be intelligent. We have to work now, and analyse it deeply.

“Financially, being in the Champions League is better than not. Our budget could be better. We are going to have to be clinical with our decisions. But we have to manage Financial Fair Play for this season. Then, we build. And I think we can be intelligent and build a strong team to compete in the Champions League, Premier League and the cups.”