Aston Villa are reportedly one of several clubs keeping tabs on talented Reims midfielder Valentin Atangana this summer.
The 19-year-old has come through the youth ranks with the French side but enjoyed a breakthrough campaign last year, making 41 appearances at senior level to establish himself as a crucial presence in their midfield.
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According to Actu Cameroun, via BILD, the France U21s international has attracted plenty of interest from clubs around Europe with his form over the past year, and that list includes Villa, who are said to be particularly interested and monitoring his progress closely.
It’s added that the talented young midfielder is valued at €10m, and following their relegation from Ligue 1, Reims will be under pressure to sell and Atangana is an obvious candidate to help them balance their books.
On one hand, it could be argued that Villa don’t need to be in the market for another defensive midfielder this summer, given the top options we have already at our disposal with Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley.
That said, should one of them move on, that could open up a path for either a new signing or Enzo Barrenechea to become a key option for us, and so it remains to be seen if that materialises in the coming weeks, which in turn could see us step up our pursuit of Atangana, or other transfer targets, in the coming months.
Further, there is now a very clear need to continue to add top young talent at the club from a financial perspective. Should we sign Atangana for the touted €10m he’s valued at, and he goes on to enjoy either a positive loan spell or makes an early breakthrough at Villa and impresses, his value could sky-rocket if he fulfils his potential, and that might just represent a crucial profit for Villa when it comes to PSR.
President of Football Operations, Monchi, will consider all factors when it comes to both outgoings and incomings this summer, but he’s shown with the signings of Kosta Nedeljkovic, Yasin Ozcan and Andres Garcia to name but a few, that he is prepared to spend on young players who have the ability to either play a key role for Emery, or move on for a profit further down the road as he continues to face a fine balancing act from a sporting and financial perspective.
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