Aston Villa make ‘last-ditch hijack attempt’ for Liverpool target as Barcelona talks stall

Aston Villa have reportedly made a late offer to hijack Real Betis’ attempt to sign Barcelona winger Abde Ezzalzouli on Deadline Day.

The Morocco international has been the subject of interest from the Villans for quite some time but it’s only been in the last couple of days that the speculation has racked up.

On Thursday it was claimed Villa were merely just interested but Unai Emery and Monchi are now said to have given the green light to try and make a deal happen.

Spanish journalist Pepe Elías has reported that Betis were close to signing Abde but “the agreement has blown up”, allowing Sevilla, Osasuna, Atlético Madrid and Villa to pounce on a stall.

Liverpool were credited earlier this week by Sport via Sport Witness to have made contact to Barça, enquiring about Abde. It awaits to be seen if they too will make a last-ditch attempt to sign him.

It’s claimed the 21-year-old would cost around £17 million to tie down on a permanent deal after he scored four and assisted two in 28 La Liga appearances on loan at Osasuna last campaign.