Aston Villa deal Liverpool blow as £33m defender 'listening to offers'
Liverpool must watch their backs as Aston Villa have joined the transfer race for a defender.
Aston Villa are reportedly interested in signing Wolfsburg centre-back Konstantinos Koulierakis this summer but face competition from a host of Premier League rivals.
Unai Emery is assessing his options ahead of next season as he seeks to bolster his back line which has for much of this campaign lacked depth and quality. Injuries have taken hold at awkward times with the brutal fixture schedule exposing weaknesses at centre-back and right-back.
Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash have all been sidelined at various points in the past few months, making it very difficult for Emery to rotate when he desired. With games every three or four days for several weeks in succession, January and February proved to be particularly testing.
Andres Garcia signing in January, Axel Disasi coming in on loan from Chelsea and Lamare Bogarde proving his versatility have helped at right-back especially but Emery will still want better assurances over depth. Centre-half is definitely still an area of weakness when one of Pau or Konsa are unavailable, so a summer addition is looking likely.
Caught Offside reports Koulierakis is one transfer target Villa are considering ahead of the next transfer window but it’s very standard interest at this stage. There’s a long list of other clubs keen, too, with Liverpool and Crystal Palace among the Premier League sides taking a look.
It’s also claimed that scouts from AC Milan and Real Madrid have watched Koulierakis in action this season, broadening the young centre-half’s horizons if he doesn’t fancy a move to England. The report from Caught Offside suggests Koulierakis is willing to listen to offers and would be available for around €40 million (£33.3m).
How would Koulierakis fit in at Aston Villa?
It’s been a rapid rise for Koulierakis, who only joined Wolfsburg from Greek Super League side PAOK Thessaloniki last summer for around £10 million. The 21-year-old, already an 11-time Greece international, has started 20 of Wolfsburg’s 24 Bundesliga matches this season, helping keep five clean sheets – including against Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen.
Left-footed and standing at 6ft 2in, Koulierakis would be arrive at Villa as an alternative to Pau as the left-sided centre-back. The Greek is also capable of playing at left-back if required too, but he’s unlikely to be utilised there with Lucas Digne and Ian Maatsen sharing game time on that side.
Koulierakis is an aerial threat as he has scored three goals this season, also assisting a further four. Although Wolfsburg didn’t make it through the UEFA Champions League qualification phase at the start of the campaign, the defender enjoyed a purple patch as he netted three times in four appearances.
Eagle-eyed viewers of England’s UEFA Nations League fixtures last year might remember Koulierakis as he assisted a goal as Greece ran out surprise 2-1 victors at Wembley. The centre-back played the full 90 minutes in the reverse tie, too, but England got revenge as they won 3-0 at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.