Villa summer transfer boost claim made over possible key signing

Aston Villa will reportedly have a much-improved opportunity to secure the signing of Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi this summer after our touted interest in January.

As reported by the Express and Star last month, the French international was a target for Unai Emery as he looked to bolster his options in midfield.

READ MORE: How Villa could line up vs Everton: One potential key Emery change for clash

A move of course didn’t materialise, with Guendouzi, 21, having now made 87 appearances for Marseille after initially joining them on loan in 2021, while he’s contributed nine goals and 18 assists in that time to go along with his overall influence in their midfield set-up.

Emery knows him well after their time working together at Arsenal previously, and so it appeared as though the Spanish tactician was keen for a reunion having identified that as an area in need of strengthening moving forward.

The expectation is that the Villa boss will be heavily backed this summer to mould the squad into his own, and should we revisit that touted interest in Guendouzi, it sounds as though we’ll certainly have a big chance of landing his signature based on the comments made below.

“Guendouzi’s representatives, the player and OM are clearly considering a departure this summer,” L’Equipe journalist Mathieu Gregoire is quoted as saying by MSN. “In the sense that it’s a bit of a career plan. He arrived in the summer of 2021 to relaunch at OM. He became an important player right away. His second season is less linear but it is successful. 

“There has been interest from Aston Villa this winter. But it was not the right time. They hoped for a club of another standard. We didn’t even go as far as the offer stage because the player asked to wait until the summer. Guendouzi had Emery on the phone. He received a very good contract offer at Aston Villa. But he did not aspire to “spin the English way” during the winter transfer window. He prefers to leave this summer and on the side of OM we think that will be one of the very good sales of the summer.”

Based on the claims above, Emery is clearly keen on signing Guendouzi and with the suggestion that we made a contract offer to the Frenchman, it seems as though our interest is serious and a summer swoop is more realistic.

Having loaned out both Morgan Sanson and Marvelous Nakamba last month, time will tell if the midfield pair have a future at Villa under Emery beyond this summer.

Should they be moved on, that would create additional space for midfield competition alongside Boubacar Kamara and Douglas Luiz, while Guendouzi’s versatility would also allow him to compete with the likes of John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey in a wider role.

The latest assessment offered of Guendouzi’s situation at Marseille is potentially a real transfer boost for Villa, as provided we can satisfy the French outfit’s demands in relation to his price-tag, it sounds as though the door is very much open for negotiations to take place and for an exit to materialise this summer.

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