Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is reportedly interested in Real Betis winger Luiz Henrique, as he eyes further reinforcements this month.
Villa have already done business with Betis in the January transfer window, having completed the signing of left-back Alex Moreno last week.
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With the club expected to back Emery in the transfer market to allow him to stamp his mark on the squad, additional signings are expected with Jhon Duran the next to arrive after the club announced an agreement had been reached to sign the 19-year-old Colombian striker on Monday.
However, according to Estadio Deportivo, Villa are also interested in Henrique, with Emery making no secret of his desire to sign a winger this month, as per Sky Sports.
Henrique has scored three goals and provided five assists in 22 appearances across all competitions so far this season, and at 22 years of age, he has a bright future ahead of him if he continues to improve and develop his game.
That said, it’s worth noting that the report above from Spain goes on to add that Betis have no interest in selling their Brazilian youngster right now, and Villa are just the latest in a long list of clubs said to be interested in acquiring his services.
In turn, it seems as though this one is a long way off from materialising as things stand, but time will tell if Villa and Emery wish to step up their interest in the next fortnight to try and get a deal done this month and get ahead of the competition.
Villa’s need for a winger is an understandable one, and Henrique does fit the bill in terms of providing an option who can add real width on the right side.
While the likes of John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey have impressed when playing wide right, they have a natural tendency to drift inside and so that narrows our play and makes it difficult to break teams down when we have plenty of possession.
That is why Emery is keen to bring in a different profile of player for that role, and Henrique could be a potential solution to that. Based on the report above though, it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if Villa were forced to look at alternative targets this month if they wish to address the issue now rather than wait until the summer.
