Aston Villa in ‘pole position’ for €60m transfer as verbal offer made

Latest Aston Villa transfer news as two Spanish players are linked with a move to Villa Park.
Aston Villa are in ‘pole position’ to sign Alex Baena from Unai Emery’s former club Villarreal according to a report.

ElDesmarque in Spain say Villa lead the race to sign Baena, who has a €60m release clause. Villa are trying to negotiate a fee that is lower than his release clause. It was reported that Monchi was convinced by Emery to go and target the midfielder and will try to get him a cheaper fee, but ultimately may end up paying the release clause to secure his services.

La Liga giants Barcelona are also keen in signing Baena and have their own means of trying to secure his services. They could consider offering a part exchange deal according to Sport.ES. It is added that the player ‘dreams’ of playing for the Catalan giants, and that could make it trickier for Villa to win the race, as they’d have to persuade him in leaving Spain, and turning down the opportunity to play for the five time Champions League winners.

Baena, who won a Europa League in 2021 under Emery, has been in fine form for the Yellow Submarine this season. He has played 43 times and has got 17 assists and five goals, despite his club side being in ninth and suffering a Round of 16 exit from Europe.

In other news, Gabri Veiga is said to have received a verbal offer from Aston Villa according to AlkassTVSports. Villa along with Atletico Madrid are said to be interested in signing the midfielder, though Al-Ahli would like to keep hold of him.

Gabri Veiga moved to the Saudi Pro League in August 2023 after Al-Ahli activated his €40m release clause when he was playing for Celta Vigo. He has got four goals and four assists in 18 games for his club this term but they are 31 points off the top of the league but are at least on course to qualifying for the AFC Champions League.

Before moving to Saudi Arabia, Veiga was reportedly wanted for transfer by both Arsenal and Real Madrid. He’s yet to make his debut for the Spanish national team, but during his time in Spain, he got 11 goals and four assists in 56 games for Celta Vigo.

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