Fabrizio Romano reveals Aston Villa’s chances of signing £56m rated forward linked with Newcastle

Aston Villa are set to break their transfer record after agreeing a deal worth up to £51.9m for Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby.

Villa are reportedly very close to securing a deal for the French winger, who appears to have chosen Villa Park and Premier League football over moving to Saudi Arabia, after Al-Nassr matched Villa’s bid.

Unai Emery and Villa have been bold in the summer transfer window so far, spending big money to land Pau Torres, while Youri Tielemans was also brought in on a free deal. Villa are showing real ambition as they look to make a run at the top four, while also looking to challenge in the Europa Conference League during the coming season.

The club are also reportedly still interested in making an offer for Stade Rennais winger Jeremy Doku, even after closing in on the signing of Diaby. It’s claimed the Villans would like to sign Doku in addition to Diaby as Unai Emery builds a squad capable of competing at the highest level, both in Europe and the Premier League.

Another winger Villa have been linked to in the past is the highly rated Italy and Juventus winger Federico Chiesa. The 25-year-old Euro 2020 winner has also been linked with Liverpool and Newcastle United in recent weeks, and the Daily Mail reported last month that Villa were hoping to strike a deal for the Italian.

But esteemed journalist Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that there’s very little chance of Villa making a bid for the former Fiorentina winger. On Romano’s The Daily Briefing, (via The Boot Room), he revealed that Villa did enquire about Chiesa recently, but will not be entering further talks after strking a deal for Diaby.

He wrote: “Juventus would only sell Chiesa for big money, around €65/70m (£56m/£60m), otherwise they’re more than happy to keep him. I’m not aware of any negotiation with Liverpool.

“Aston Villa asked for him two weeks ago but no chance, they’re now signing Diaby.”