Villa paired with interest in another defensive target for Emery

Aston Villa are reportedly keen on Valencia’s young left-back Jesus Vazquez, as Unai Emery eyes a potential reshuffle in that position this summer.

The 20-year-old has come through the youth ranks at Valencia and gone on to make 30 appearances at senior level already, while he has eight caps for Spain U19s.

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Having been limited to a bit-part role in La Liga last season, Unai Emery has seemingly seen something in his characteristics and qualities that he believes would make him a useful addition to his squad, with reports in Spain suggesting that Villa are interested.

According to Cadena Ser, Vazquez is on our transfer radar, as it’s claimed that Emery is closely following his situation this summer in the event that there are changes for us at left-back.

It’s added that Valencia are awaiting offers as there is interest from elsewhere in the youngster too, and although he has seen his involvement regress over the past year, he is considered a top talent for the future.

After his arrival in January, Alex Moreno wasted little time in impressing and securing a starting berth in the Villa XI, as he has proven to be a perfect fit for Emery’s system and style of play with his ability to balance his defensive duties with a relentless effort to push forward and add an attacking outlet too.

That in turn saw Lucas Digne drop to the bench and play a limited role in the second half of last season, and so with his age, wages and likely desire to be more heavily involved in mind, question marks have been raised over the Frenchman’s future at the club as he also perhaps doesn’t fit Emery’s style quite as well.

That said, the Villa boss has spoken about wanting quality and serious competition in every position, and he has that now at left-back as things stand, and so some may argue that it would be an unnecessary reshuffling of the pack.

Time will tell what is decided, but if a decent offer were to come in for Digne and we have a capable replacement in mind and ready to be drafted in, while also considering that Moreno will likely miss the start of the new season as he recovers from a hamstring injury, then we could see movement in that department in the coming weeks.

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