Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos could still leave the club this month despite no agreement being reached with Fenerbahce over a transfer.
The 31-year-old has been linked with a departure from Villa since last summer, but as things stand, the club hasn’t been able to reach a deal with any interested party and so Carlos remains with us for now.
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Speculation has been building over a potential switch to Fenerbahce this month, with The Athletic reporting earlier on Tuesday that Villa had turned down an offer from the Turkish giants as it seemingly didn’t meet their valuation of the Brazilian defender.
Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, the two clubs have ultimately failed to reach an agreement and so that has opened the door for other interested parties to join the transfer race to sign Carlos, while there is of course the possibility that Fenerbahce up their bid to fend off their rivals.
Carlos has been limited to 17 appearances across all competitions so far this season, as he continues to be largely used as a back-up option by Unai Emery when he is forced to shift Ezri Konsa across to right-back.
While the Brazilian centre-half has produced some stand-out performances since he arrived in 2022, he has been injury and error prone during his time with us, and so that has consistently led to question marks being raised over his position in the squad, with Villa seemingly capable of upgrading in that department.
At 31 years of age, with 18 months remaining on his current contract and considering the issues noted above, it does seem like the more sensible decision from the club to offload him now while we can get a decent fee for him, but Villa evidently have their valuation of Carlos, and are unwilling to drop from that.
In turn, it’s hoped that one of the other touted interested clubs is able to meet our demands, and that will hopefully free up space and finances for Emery, Monchi and our scouting department to identify a suitable replacement.
With Pau Torres currently sidelined by injury, we are set to rely on Tyrone Mings and Konsa to play fundamental roles in the coming weeks, and as we look to compete on multiple fronts, we need more competition and depth in the heart of our backline.
Romano has also reported that Villa have now opened talks with Sevilla over the potential signing of Loic Bade, with the Frenchman potentially a priority target to replace Carlos if he moves on.
The 24-year-old joined Sevilla from Rennes in 2023, and he has since gone on to make 76 appearances for the club having established himself as a key figure. Having been capped up to U21s level for France and represented them at the Olympics last year, he is seemingly on the cusp of a breakthrough at international level now too.
Particularly Monchi and some of our staff will be fully aware of his talent and potential, and so time will tell if a deal can be done to fill a Carlos-shaped void in the coming days or week to improve our defence.
