Aston Villa are reportedly in talks with Villarreal over the signing of defender Juan Foyth as we look to strengthen our options in that department.
The 27-year-old initially joined the La Liga outfit in 2020 on loan after a spell at Tottenham, and after making the switch permanent a year later, he has gone on to make 120 appearances for them.
READ MORE: Why Villa’s astute transfer work has impressed ahead of important week
Unai Emery knows him well from his time coaching there prior to joining us, and as reported by AS, Villa are now said to be pushing to sign the Argentine defender, with an offer already being presented to Villarreal.
At this stage, it doesn’t sound as though an agreement exists either between the two clubs or with the player on personal terms, while Fabrizio Romano notes that Villa are looking at our options after failing to land Loic Bade.
In turn, it remains to be seen if our interest and touted proposal develops into something more serious, but Foyth has seemingly emerged as one of our top targets as we look to add competition and depth to our backline.
While Diego Carlos sealed an exit this week to join Fenerbahce, Pau Torres remains sidelined with a broken metatarsal, That leaves Emery with just Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa as our two senior options at centre-half, and so a signing like Foyth would make a lot of sense.
As well as playing at a high level for some time now, he will be familiar with Emery’s demands and style of play, and that should hopefully make his integration a much quicker and easier process.
That said, he’s made just four appearances so far this season and so that raises question marks over his condition and reliability, should he secure a move to join us this month.
While a new defender is a necessity before the transfer deadline, this feels like an underwhelming choice if Foyth is the priority. However, if Emery, Monchi and our scouting department feel as though this is the best option for us right now, then it remains to be seen if a deal can be done.
