Aston Villa are reportedly on the verge of completing the signing of Real Betis left-back Alex Moreno, in a deal worth €15m in total.
The 29-year-old established himself as a key figure for the La Liga outfit after his arrival at the club in 2019, making 122 appearances across all competitions, while contributing six goals and 14 assists to go along with his defensive duties.
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With Unai Emery set to be backed this month as he starts to stamp his mark on the squad, it appears as though he is closing in on his first signing as Villa boss, with Moreno on the verge of sealing a move.
According to AS, an agreement has been reached on a deal worth €13.5m plus €1.5m in bonuses, and the Spaniard is now expected to undergo his medical in the coming days as he didn’t travel with the rest of the Betis squad for their Spanish Super Cup encounter with Barcelona in Saudi Arabia this week.
Should the deal now go through as expected, it’s an important signing given the quality and experience that Moreno possesses, and at this stage of his career, he certainly hasn’t made the move to sit on the bench and provide depth.
In turn, it remains to be seen what the impact of his arrival will be for Lucas Digne and Ludwig Augustinsson, albeit the latter suffered an injury in our FA Cup defeat to Stevenage on Sunday and could now be sidelined, while his loan deal will also expire in the summer.
For Digne though, it means increased competition and potentially being replaced in the Villa line-up, as with Emery having now had a couple of months to assess the group, he will have identified where we need to strengthen and where he wants his own players to come in to implement his plans.
With Moreno’s defensive qualities combined with his attacking threat, he will add energy and technical quality down our left flank, and it’s undoubtedly an exciting addition that should improve us, provided that there are no late issues with getting the deal done.
