Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for Al-Hilal, but it remains to be seen if an exit is given the green light by Unai Emery.
The 30-year-old made 31 appearances last season and will play a key role for us to begin the new campaign with Alex Moreno still working his way back from injury.
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However, following the Spaniard’s arrival in January, he quickly established himself as Emery’s first-choice at left-back with a string of impressive displays, and he certainly looks a better fit for our system and style of play with his ability to provide a threat down the left flank.
In turn, Digne is likely to face a battle to re-establish himself in the Villa starting XI, although he has done well through pre-season and will be expected to feature heavily in the first month of the new campaign in both the Premier League and the playoff round of the Europa Conference League.
That said, the Daily Mail have reported that Al-Hilal have set their sights on the Frenchman, and are ‘pressing ahead’ with their pursuit to land his signature this summer.
On one hand, it could be argued that if we receive a significant fee from the Saudi Arabian side which in turn would also allow us to offload Digne’s wages and perhaps bring in a younger option, then an exit will likely be considered if the offer is too good to ignore.
However, Emery will have to decide if we can cope without Digne, particularly in the opening month or so of the new campaign, as that could leave us dangerously light in that area of the squad with Moreno not expected back until late August or perhaps early September.
Seb Revan has impressed over pre-season but will surely not be tasked with filling that void if it emerged, while there is the option of playing Pau Torres on the left side of our defence, which invariably now turns into a back-three with the full-back on the opposite side given licence to push further up the pitch and attack.
That could be a viable solution until Moreno returns, but with a gruelling season ahead where we’ll look to compete on multiple fronts, an exit for Digne if it were to materialise must surely be swiftly followed by a signing to replace him.