Speculation linking Aston Villa with an interest in Roma full-back Leonardo Spinazzola this month has been dismissed.
As per La Roma 24 on Monday, Villa were said to be keen on the 30-year-old as he is expected to be available on a free at the end of this season when his current contract expires.
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It was unclear from the report if that meant we would be interested in a cut-price deal this month or if we would wait until the summer, which in turn would perhaps have signalled a reshuffle at left-back given we already have Alex Moreno and Lucas Digne available to Unai Emery.
Nevertheless, the interest was touted and it seemingly made sense given the Italian international’s suitability for the potential role with his attacking attributes in mind, but it doesn’t appear as though the rumoured interest is accurate.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Spinazzola is not on our shortlist for the January transfer window, and although he is expected to leave Roma, Villa are ‘not working on this deal’.
Time will tell if there was anything in the initial report and whether or not Villa perhaps see it as a potential summer swoop rather than for this month, but it doesn’t sound as though we will be pursuing Spinazzola’s signature in the coming weeks.
As noted above, Emery does have two quality options in that department to provide competition and depth already, with Moreno currently our first-choice again in the Villa XI with Digne sidelined by injury.
The Spaniard is arguably the preferred option given what he provides in both phases of the game, but Digne showed through the first half of the campaign that he remains a great option to have at Emery’s disposal, as we look to compete on multiple fronts moving forward.
That said, speculation has long linked the Frenchman with a departure due to his high wages and potential transfer fee, and so it remains to be seen if the Spinazzola rumours resurface closer to the summer, or perhaps the club have another target in mind if they wish to make a change in that area of the squad.
Importantly though for now until the end of the current campaign, it sounds as though we’ll be moving forward with Moreno and Digne as our two options at left-back.