Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is believed to be eyeing one of his former players and would be willing to give him a sizeable wage increase at Villa Park, according to reports.
What’s the latest news involving Aston Villa?
Aston Villa have recently officially announced that defender Ezri Konsa has committed his future to the club on a long-term basis and his new deal will run for the next five years, as cited by The Daily Mail.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live Sport, former Aston Villa boss Dean Smith has talked up the 25-year-old and he also commented on his prospects of getting picked for the England national side, as he said: “A big player I think, for them this season, is going to be Ezri Konsa. I am amazed he is not playing for England yet. He is a Rolls-Royce of a player. He made a big mistake against Newcastle for the second goal, but, boy, has he recovered from that. He is a top player.”
Writing in his column for GIVEMESPORT, journalist Dean Jones has indicated that Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins could become an option for Chelsea in 2024 if he doesn’t put pen to paper on new terms in the West Midlands. The England international is under contract at Villa Park until 2025, but Chelsea are known to be on the lookout for another striker to help provide competition for Nicolas Jackson.
The Villans take on Chelsea this weekend at Stamford Bridge and will be hoping to build on their start to the Premier League campaign that has them seventh in the division standings, with three wins and two losses from their opening five fixtures.
Who is Unai Emery looking to sign?
According to reports in Spain via CaughtOffside, Emery is eyeing a reunion with Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, whom he brought to Arsenal during his tenure at the Emirates. The outlet claim that he would be willing to double the Spain international’s wages – although Ceballos only signed a new four-year contract with Real Madrid in the summer.
Labelled a “very clever” player by former Arsenal legend Robin van Persie, Ceballos has made 120 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid during his time at the La Liga giants, registering six goals and 12 assists in the process, as per Transfermarkt.
As per FBRef, Ceballos has also excelled in comparison to his positional peers across Europe’s top five divisions in the art of progressive passes, averaging around 11.20 per 90 minutes across the last 365 days, putting him in the 99th percentile for this metric. He also ranks extremely highly for pass completion, succesful take-ons, assists, tackles and blocks, painting the picture of a well-rounded midfielder.
Premier League experience is also something the Spaniard has on his side and that would be another useful commodity in the event that Ceballos were to make a return to English football come January, with Emery clearly fancying his chances of getting the best out of him.