Aston Villa defender Matty Cash is the subject of interest from AC Milan, as a meeting was reportedly held in London on Friday.
The 26-year-old was a key figure for Villa last season, making 46 appearances across all competitions, contributing five goals and three assists to go with his defensive work.
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Particularly when ruled out due to injury, Cash’s importance was re-emphasised given our lack of competition and depth in that department, and so it remains to be seen if an exit would get the green light from Unai Emery and the Villa management.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Milan sporting director Geoffrey Moncada was in London on Friday and met with Villa officials to discuss Cash, and so it remains to be seen what the outcome of those discussions were and if it might result in an eventual exit for the Polish international.
Cash has firmly established himself as an important member of the Villa squad since arriving in 2020, and so it’s a key decision as to whether or not his time with us might be coming to an end.
Amid ongoing speculation of Villa being under pressure to sell this summer due to PSR concerns, time will tell if that is a major factor in this decision and why we’re perhaps even open to talks with Milan, but there is seemingly still a long way to go before a departure is likely.
Villa confirmed the signing of talented youngster Kostas Nedeljkovic from Red Star Belgrade in January before loaning him back to the Serbian giants for the remainder of last season.
Academy product Kaine Kesler-Hayden was recalled from his own loan spell in January as he provided cover at right-back in the second half of the campaign, albeit he was only able to get a handful of minutes from Emery.
While Ezri Konsa has the versatility to shift across and play at right-back, he is clearly more confident and influential in his natural centre-half position, and so if Cash was to leave this summer, it remains to be seen if we’re ready to place our faith in youth or we would move to replace him with an experienced signing.
Emery has done a wonderful job of developing and improving the talent at his disposal since he arrived at Villa, and so it will be fascinating to see if there is a reshuffle at right-back, and across the rest of the squad too.