‘In the pipeline’ - Aston Villa already lining up summer transfer for £17m midfielder with ‘huge pedigree’

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Aston Villa are being tipped to land a Champions League winner for the long-term.

Unai Emery has just orchestrated one of the best winter transfer windows in recent memory but the Aston Villa head coach’s work in the market never fully worms its way into hibernation.

The Villans secured the loan signings of Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi on deadline day, while earlier in the transfer window tricky attacker Donyell Malen joined from Borussia Dortmund and promising right-back Andres Garcia arrived from Levante.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The fees paid out - £21 million for Malen, £6 million for Garcia, £5 million for Disasi and relatively minor amounts for Rashford and Asensio - were all funded, and then some, by the £67 million departure of Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr. Jaden Philogene’s £20 million exit to Ipswich Town helped a great deal, too, while Emiliano Buendia’s loan to Bayer Leverkusen includes a buy option of £17 million.

Praise is rightfully being heaped on all those involved in the recruitment process but the transfer business never fully sleeps, even once the window has slammed shut. So much so, Villa are already eyeing a potential move in the summer market and it actually involves one of the players they’ve only just signed.

Asensio, a three-time Champions League winner, has joined on a six-month straight loan deal with the full salary covered. That’s how it was portrayed and that’s how it stands officially right now. It might not just be the rest of the season that the 38-time Spain international graces the Villa Park turf, however, as plans are already in place for the deal to be extended.

Aston Villa considering long-term deal for ‘world-class’ forward

The Athletic’s chief writer David Ornstein has revealed Villa turned down the opportunity to have Asensio for longer but are weighing up the possibility of tying down the 29-year-old until the end of next campaign, as long as he displays his world-class best. The attacking midfielder, currently worth £17 million as per Transfermarkt, is no longer in PSG manager Luis Enrique’s plans.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking to NBC Sports, Ornstein said: “It’s a massive name if you think of the days at Real Madrid and PSG more recently. He’s somebody with huge pedigree. When he was made available for loan, Unai Emery jumped all over that. He wanted to do it and he managed to secure a deal until the end of this season.

“Now, he’s got 18 months left on his contract through to the summer of 2026. PSG would’ve let Aston Villa take him on for all of that period but they said they wanted him to come until the summer, test him, see what he can do on the pitch and then they’ll make a decision.

“So, although there’s no option to extend, there’s an openness on behalf of PSG to do so. Aston Villa will take care of all of his salary - and that’s no small commitment - which is another signing of ambition. On the back of the Marcus Rashford signing, this is a real rebuild of the attack after the sale of Jhon Duran.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice