Fabrizio Romano says £17m player who Aston Villa struck deal over has gone elsewhere

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Aston Villa were linked with Serie A-based forward Cyril Ngonge earlier on during the January transfer window.

Indeed, the Villans had apparently struck a deal with Hellas Verona over the 23-year-old, according to Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb.

Villa reportedly made an offer worth €10million – around £8.7million – for Ngonge, who Verona are said to have signed for free a year ago.

However, Tutto Hellas Verona then claimed that the Belgian attacking talent didn’t want to leave Serie A, and so the speculation linking him with Villa fizzled out.

Now, Fabrizio Romano has reported that Ngonge has all-but sealed a move to Napoli, the reigning champions of Italy.

The transfer insider, writing on X, claimed on Thursday afternoon that Ngonge had only just completed his medical with the southern Italian club.

Ngonge will put pen to paper on his contract on Friday and join for a fee of €20million plus add-ons, added Romano, who finished by saying: “Here we go, confirmed”.

Aston Villa need to regroup and look elsewhere after missing out on Cyril Ngonge

Aston Villa have enjoyed a superb first half of the season, sitting third in the Premier League table, and will fancy their chances of a top-four finish.

In addition, Unai Emery’s charges are in the latter stages of the Europa Conference League and in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

There’s certainly scope for Villa to bolster their ranks and bring in more players to aid their pursuit of silverware this season, and Ngonge would’ve been a good shout.

He’s a young, talented and versatile attacker who clearly must be good if the reigning champions of Italy have signed him.

Villa will need to regroup and look elsewhere, but they may well keep tabs on Ngonge to see how he develops at Napoli, perhaps with a view to next year.