Aston Villa have reportedly had a loan offer for West Ham United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka rejected as we search for a new right-back.
The 28-year-old has gained valuable experience at the top level through spells with Crystal Palace, Manchester United and the Hammers, but is now expected to leave following their relegation to the Championship.
With Villa reportedly set to move both Kosta Nedeljkovic and Triston Rowe on in the coming weeks, a new right-back will no doubt be high on the agenda for Unai Emery to bring in reliable competition for Matty Cash.
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It seems as though Wan-Bissaka has emerged as our priority target to address that particular issue, but according to The Athletic, our proposal of a straight loan deal has been rejected by West Ham.
However, it’s added in the report that Villa are likely to return with a second proposal to try and reach an agreement, with Wan-Bissaka said to be valued at £25m, albeit Villa are unwilling to meet that valuation.
If Emery believes that the DR Congo international can be a reliable option for him when rotating with Cash and will establish himself as a key part of our squad, then it’s hoped that an agreement can be reached.
That said, Villa should certainly not be paying anywhere near that reported £25m valuation as that seems well above what the defender is worth, and it will perhaps only build on the frustration of potentially selling both Nedeljkovic and Rowe when we have two younger options who could develop into solutions if they were kept in the first-team squad and given a longer-term chance.
Instead, neither have seemingly convinced Emery and will be moved on, and it could still be Wan-Bissaka who fills that void and looks to finally address what has been a problem position for us for some time.
Naturally, the opportunity and challenge of playing under the Basque coach could help Wan-Bissaka improve his game and become a consistent top performer for Villa if he were to join, but it sounds as though we’re still some way off that materialising wand potentially we could see a big portion of our transfer budget go on this signing.