Club now keen to sell £50m player before next week after Aston Villa open talks

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Aston Villa now seem to be in a fantastic position to sign a player Unai Emery is desperate to have at Villa Park.

Monchi – Director of Football for Aston Villa – is currently negotiating another big money deal, after the Villans recently spent £50m to sign Amadou Onana from Everton.

So, who are Aston Villa now well placed to sign? Let’s take a look…

Aston Villa well placed to sign Joao Felix

A story from Marca in Spain now makes excellent reading for Aston Villa in their pursuit of Joao Felix.

The Spanish news outlet believe Atletico Madrid are desperate to sell the Portugal international before he starts pre-season training next week, as he has no future whatsoever under Diego Simeone.

Felix himself also wants an exit to materialise before he is expected to return to the Argentine’s sessions, as Atletico Madrid hold out for a sum of €60m (£50.4m).

It comes after another Spanish news outlet in SPORT claimed that Aston Villa have opened talks with Atletico Madrid over a deal for Felix and are pushing hard to secure his signature.

Interestingly, a story from The Athletic mentioned that Emery wanted to sign Felix more than Moussa Diaby last summer, and the Spaniard could now finally get his man if Aston Villa make a respectable bid.

Marca add that Benfica are also keen to sign the 24-year-old this summer, but cannot afford the asking price, while Barcelona are admirers too but can only sanction another loan deal, which does not interest Atletico Madrid.

Therefore, even a bid of around £40m may be enough for Aston Villa to sign Felix this summer, given Atletico Madrid’s desperation to sell him as soon as possible.

Monchi could secure the Villans a bargain

While £50.4m is not usually seen as a bargain sum, it could well prove to be one.

Not long ago, Felix was being tipped to win the Ballon d’Or one day.

Atletico Madrid – a side who rarely splash the cash – even saw fit to spend a record £113m to sign him from Benfica back in July 2019, which speaks volumes about the potential they saw.

Unfortunately, Felix and Simeone just haven’t clicked, with the man from Viseu only scoring 34 goals in 131 appearances for Atletico Madrid.

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Nevertheless, the Portuguese forward still has plenty of time to fulfil his immense potential at the age of 24, and if he goes on to do that with Aston Villa, the £50.4m fee would prove to be a bargain.