Vitoria president Antonio Miguel Cardoso has revealed Aston Villa’s interest in an unnamed player at the club, less than a week after speculation regarding Ibrahima Bamba.
As per The Times last week, it was reported that Villa were potentially using the acquisition of a 46-percent share in the Portuguese outfit by our holding company as a possible foundation to swoop for Bamba.
READ MORE: Who is Ibrahima Bamba? Analysis of touted Villa transfer target
The 20-year-old has made a positive impression since moving to Portugal in 2020, and has gone on to establish himself in the side this season with 26 appearances across all competitions.
With his characteristics and strengths arguably suiting Unai Emery’s preferred style of play and identity, combined with a lack of competition and depth in the centre-half positions as well as defensive midfielders with Bamba capable of playing either role, the rumours did make a great deal of sense.
Now, Cardoso has seemingly dropped a hint over the potential transfer interest from Villa in Bamba, albeit he didn’t name the youngster specifically when discussing the matter as part of a larger conversation on what the integration of ‘V Sports’ will mean for his club and the network as a whole moving forward.
“There were preliminary talks between V Sports and the previous management, but they were on hold as I became president in March of last year. No contact was made then due to a series of developments that were not positive,” he is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive.
“We started talking again because of Aston Villa’s interest in a Vitória player. I met with Mr Sawiris a few times and we found points in common, not least because V Sports already had an interest in Vitória.
“They realised that our management consisted a lot of doing more with less, reducing budgets, having young assets, and selling players to face the club’s budget deficit.”
Naturally, time will tell if that player is indeed Bamba following on from the recent rumours, and importantly, whether or not any agreement is discussed and subsequently reached this summer.
However, it’s clear from the comments above that it’s a partnership that could allow Villa to benefit from the talent pool there while forming part of the overall vision of the multi-club strategy.
It’s expected to be a busy summer as the hierarchy back Emery to mould the squad into his own, and the new link and partnership with Vitoria could be an interesting aspect of our plans in the future.
