Report: Aston Villa eyeing ‘the best left-sided central defender in the world’

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Aston Villa enjoyed an outstanding 2022-23 campaign under Unai Emery and are now looking to make the most of it in the transfer market.

The Villans will be playing in the Europa Conference League next term after finishing seventh in the Premier League table.

This, combined with the Emery factor, has led to speculation linking Villa with a host of star players.

On Tuesday, 90Min reported that the Villans have set their sights on two world-class Spanish defenders.

Villa have apparently held talks over Villarreal’s Pau Torres and Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte.

Speculation linking the Villans with the latter appears to be fairly new. And like with Torres, it’s an exciting lead.

Laporte joined City to much fanfare in 2018 for a then club record fee of £57million.

At the start of 2020, Pep Guardiola called him the “best left-sided central defender in the world”.

However, Laporte has since fallen down the pecking order, with just 12 Premier League appearances last term.

According to 90Min, the 29-year-old is looking to leave in search of first-team football.

He ‘could be available for around £40million’, added the report.

Our view

It’s great to see Villa linked with the likes of Laporte, players who are world-class and have won plenty of silverware.

However, £40million does seem a little steep for a 29-year-old defender, as good as he is.

In addition, Laporte’s salary is a reported £130,000-a-week, which would make him Villa’s second-highest earner.

At the same time, Villa may have decent leverage, as City seem willing to sell and the player seems desperate for first-team football.

We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks. Maybe the Villans can negotiate a good deal and personal terms and get themselves an amazing player at a good price.