Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson is reportedly attracting interest from France, with Lille now said to be leading the race to sign him this summer.
The 28-year-old joined us from Marseille in January 2021, but through a combination of injuries and competition for places, he has made just 23 appearances for the club to date.
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While Unai Emery praised the Frenchman’s qualities following his arrival last year, he conceded that Sanson needed to play regularly again to regain his fitness and form, and that couldn’t be guaranteed at Villa last season. In turn, he was sent out on loan to Strasbourg for the second half of the campaign.
Sanson impressed as he bagged one goal and two assists in 18 appearances to help keep the club in Ligue 1, and while it remains to be seen if the door is now definitively closed on a future at Villa beyond this summer, it had been expected that his form would have attracted interest from elsewhere.
According to L’Equipe, Lille are now said to be leading the race to sign him, but there could be some distance between the clubs on the terms of the deal as it’s suggested that they want to sign him on an initial loan move with an option to buy, while they would want us to cover part of Sanson’s wages too.
It’s added that Strasbourg want him back next season too, but time will tell who is able to offer the most favourable terms in order to convince Villa to green-light an exit, as ultimately the club would surely now prefer to simply just offload Sanson on a permanent basis, and allow Emery to continue to strengthen his squad with his own signings.
As things stand, Sanson is likely to be expected to return for pre-season training next week along with the rest of the Villa squad, and whether he’s staying with us or not, he’ll want to stay in shape and be ready for what comes next with Emery likely to make plenty of key decisions this month to continue to mould the group into his own.
