'Formal approach' - Fabrizio Romano drops Aston Villa transfer update

Aston Villa fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Arsenal. Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins got their goals.

Unai Emery’s side have until the end of the January transfer window to bring in some new faces. They also have the chance to let some players head out the exit door.

Aston Villa’s Lamare Bogarde wanted

Aston Villa’s Lamare Bogarde is attracting interest from elsewhere. He came off the bench against Arsenal on Saturday night.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has posted on X: “Hoffenheim and also three Championship clubs made formal approach to sign Lamare Bogarde on loan. Aston Villa have still not opened the doors as he also performed at top level yesterday vs Arsenal. Unai Emery at the moment wants him to stay.”

Bogarde, who is 21-years-old, can play in either midfield or defence. He has been on the books at Villa Park since moving to England as a teenager back in 2020, having previously been at Feyenoord.

He has since made eight first-team appearances, seven of which have come in this campaign. The former Holland youth international has been loaned out twice in the past to Bristol Rovers.

Aston Villa handed him a new deal in August last year which shows he is highly-rated. He currently provides useful competition and depth to Emery’s squad.

A loan exit would help him get some more regular game time under his belt. However, it appears Aston Villa have no plans to let him go anywhere at this stage.

Hoffenheim are too close to the drop zone in the Bundesliga for comfort and could see him as someone to strengthen their ranks. They may need to look elsewhere for potential additions for the time being this winter.

What next for Aston Villa?

Aston Villa face a Champions League away trip to AS Monaco on Tuesday. They then lock horns with West Ham at the weekend.

Speaking after their match against Arsenal, Emery said: “We showed resilience, we showed mentality today. In 90 minutes, we struggled sometimes when they were dominating the match. In some moments we needed to be defensively strong and we needed the goalkeeper, but we had our moments to control the game with the ball, to get into their box and to be close to scoring a goal.

“At 2-0, it was very difficult. We never gave up and never thought that it was impossible. We were speaking before the match and at half-time about being resilient and that if we could score one goal we’d have possibilities. We showed this mentality, achieved one goal and continued to try to push for the draw.”

He added: “After it went to 2-2, the mentality was the same: try to defend, try to get our moments and to score the third goal. They created two very good chances and one at the end with (Leandro) Trossard, and they had some action in our box, but we also had shots from Youri (Tielemans) and Lamare (Bogarde) with the possibility to score.”