Aston Villa are reportedly leading the race to sign Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes this summer as we prepare for a busy transfer window.
While Villa did make moves in January, the summer is seen as Unai Emery’s first real opportunity to make significant changes to the squad to improve us and mould the group into his own.
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In turn, speculation has already been rife in recent weeks as we’ve been paired with an interest in various touted targets, but according to The Independent, we are now leading the race to land Barnes at the end of the season.
Much will likely depend on the outcome of the Premier League campaign this weekend as Leicester continue to hope to avoid relegation, but should they drop down to the Championship, it could arguably make it a lot easier to prise Barnes away from the club and for a favourable fee.
The 25-year-old has bagged 12 goals and three assists in 39 appearances for the Foxes this season, with 44 goals and 32 assists in 186 outings in total since he made his first-team debut.
Combined with his work ethic and all-round characteristics and attributes, it could be a sensible signing for Emery to bolster his attacking options moving forward, but time will tell if that is a move that will be considered a priority heading into the summer or if we are also considering other options too.
The report adds that Villa are capable of putting together a ‘strong package’ to get a deal done, and so it remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached with both the club and the player to get a move secured.
Emery will certainly be looking to add more firepower to his side with the likes of Leon Bailey, Philippe Coutinho and Bertrand Traore perhaps not offering enough consistently to cement their places in his long-term plans.
That said, Jacob Ramsey has thrived on the left side of our midfield this season under the Spaniard, and so it will be interesting to see if he faces additional competition next year as we look to add quality and depth in all positions to be able to compete on multiple fronts moving forward.