Aston Villa are reportedly not planning to make a move for Levante right-back Marc Pubill this summer, but he is a potential target in the longer term.
The 20-year-old has made his breakthrough at Levante having now made 42 appearances for the senior side, while he has two caps at U19s level for Spain thus far too, which suggests in itself that he potentially has a bright future ahead of him.
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According to Super Deporte, Villa’s President of Football Operations, Monchi, rates the talented youngster highly, but there are no negotiations taking place currently as we aren’t expected to make a move for him in this transfer window.
It’s added that Villa see Pubill as a possible longer-term target as although he ticks a number of important boxes, we haven’t progressed our interest to the point of making an offer despite the suggestion that Levante could be forced to sell for financial reasons, while we do have various options in that role for the upcoming campaign.
There’s a lot to like about Pubill’s strengths and characteristics as it’s easy to see how he could fit into Unai Emery’s system and style of play, but ultimately with Matty Cash as our settled starting right-back but with the option of deploying Ezri Konsa there at times in a tactical tweak or even with depth provided by Calum Chambers, it’s not an urgent concern that needs addressing.
Should Villa’s approach indeed be to wait to sign another right-back, whether that’s Pubill or another potential target, it will be because Emery feels comfortable with the options at his disposal, and although we’ll hope to play a significant number of games this season, he won’t take any chances in terms of having enough cover and depth.
It’s been a superb transfer window for us thus far, with Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby strengthening important areas of the squad, and we did our business relatively early to allow them to settle in and get going during our pre-season tour of the USA.
Emery has spoken to the media about our possible transfer strategy moving forward now in the final weeks of the window, and the impression he gives is that we’ll look to trim the squad first, but we’ll be ready to make our moves if the right options become available and only if they significantly improve the group.