Aston Villa are reportedly poised to complete the signing of Crvena zvezda defender Kosta Nedeljkovic, as he’s scheduled to undergo a medical with us later this week.
The 18-year-old right-back was paired with a move to the club on Sunday, as per MozzartSport in Serbia, who suggested that the deal would be worth around €9m and that the talented youngster would return to Red Star Belgrade on loan for the rest of the season.
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As is now reported by Fabrizio Romano, Nedeljkovic is indeed set to join Villa as he will travel to Birmingham to undergo his medical in the coming days and complete the formalities of his transfer.
He also adds that Nedeljkovic will stay with Red Star until the end of the current campaign, and so we’ll likely get our first look at our expected new signing in the summer when he reports for pre-season training.
It’s an intriguing move from Villa as they have evidently scouted Nedeljkovic and spotted something that they not only like, but believe can strengthen Unai Emery’s squad moving forward and make us more competitive.
Given the teenager has made 18 appearances at senior level for Red Star having come through their youth ranks as well as being capped at U19s level for Serbia, he has made an immediate impression and looks to be one of the top young talents in Europe in his position.
Further, it’s an area of our current squad that certainly could be improved, as he may well provide competition and cover for Matty Cash in the role, with Emery noting last week that Calum Chambers is free to move on.
That in turn would enable us to utilise Ezri Konsa in his more natural role at centre-half rather than having to shift across and fill in at right-back when needed, but given his age, inexperience and the need to integrate and adapt to Emery’s tactical and physical demands, Nedeljkovic will likely be seen as a long-term solution with the room for development in his game still ahead.