Aston Villa are reportedly close to securing a deal to sign Marcos Acuna from Sevilla, with Nicolo Zaniolo already in Birmingham for his medical.
Villa have been busy this summer in bolstering Unai Emery’s squad, with Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby arriving to help improve us and ensure we have enough quality and depth to compete on multiple fronts.
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Having suffered two major injury blows this past week though with both Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings expected to miss most, if not all, of this season with knee injuries, it has perhaps forced us to react and ensure we are well covered for the year ahead.
That said, Emery and Monchi have both previously insisted that we would make additional signings if the right targets were available, and so it appears as though we’ll move to add more new faces this week.
Zaniolo undergoing medical ahead of Villa move
As per Fabrizio Romano, Zaniolo is in Birmingham for his medical on Wednesday ahead of an initial loan move with an option to buy from Galatasaray, and that has been backed up on Twitter with a reported image of the 24-year-old Italian international with a member of Villa staff awaiting said medical.
The ex-Roma ace would be an exciting and important signing given his technical quality, speed, strength and decisiveness in the final third, and if he can steer clear of injury setbacks himself, he is capable of being a key asset for Villa this season.
Romano adds in his tweet though that Villa will also try to complete a move for Acuna on Thursday to make him our fifth summer signing, assuming the Zaniolo deal goes through as expected.
Acuna deal close as Villa eye key addition
That has been backed up by reports in Argentina, with journalist Gaston Edul noting that Acuna is set to join us, and although there is a minor difference in negotiations, the expectation is that he will arrive.
Further, Seville-based journalist Maximo de la Cruz Ramirez has reported that the Argentine international has already accepted a contract offer from Villa to sign until 2026, and while we’ve offered between €10m and €12m to prise him away, the La Liga side want closer to €15m.
The 31-year-old is an experienced player having featured at the top level for both club and country, and coupled with his technical ability, tenacity and defensive qualities, he could be an important addition to Emery’s squad.
Alex Moreno has established himself as first-choice for the Villa boss, but he’s currently sidelined by an injury and is expected back at the end of this month or possibly early September, while speculation has linked Lucas Digne with an exit in the coming weeks.
Should the Frenchman depart, that would make the Acuna signing a smart move, and so there could be plenty of work for Villa to do as we continue to try and improve the options at Emery’s disposal and ensure we’ve reacted well to the adversity of losing key individuals to injury.
