Aston Villa can now sign player Steven Gerrard targeted for £50m on Summer transfer as deal was officially agreed by the veteran
Steven Gerrard looked into bringing the midfielder to Aston Villa in the summer transfer window of 2022
Wilfred Ndidi is among the free agents Aston Villa can target to bolster their squad ahead of next season.
Villa will be fighting on four fronts again next season after securing qualification to European football’s top table. Unai Emery will require a stronger squad to ensure Villla’s Champions League campaign isn’t detrimental to their Premier League form.
They must improve their squad within the confines of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Reports suggest Villa need to make up a shortfall by offloading some assets before June 30 in order to comply.
Ndidi could therefore represent a cheap option to bolster Villa’s midfield with his contract due to expire at Leicester City at the end of this month. Leicester are in negotiations with the Nigerian over a new deal but the 27-year-old can leave the Foxes for nothing.
Ndidi was rejuvenated in the Championship last term in a more advanced midfield position. He registered four goals and five assists as Leicester won promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
He was a target for Villa in 2022 when Steven Gerrard was the club’s manager. Reports at the time claimed Villa were considering lodging a £50million bid to sign Ndidi that summer.
Nididi was viewed as an alternative to Yves Bissouma, who Villa coveted before he joined Tottenham Hotspur. Gerrard instead moved for Boubacar Kamara and signed the Frenchman on a free transfer from Marseille.
Director of football Monchi met with his counterpart from Juventus, Cristiano Giuntoli last week to talk about Douglas Luiz and the possibility of a deal being done in the next 20 days.
Giuntoli believes an agreement is possible and is trying to include McKennie in the deal. Aston Villa are open to this but only value him at €15m because his contract expires next summer. Thus, the two sides are pretty far apart in their valuations.
CM say that the onus is really on Juventus, and they have to decide whether to invest another €25-30m into the deal to get the green light from Monchi and open the door to a negotiation with Douglas Luiz on personal terms.
The ‘track is hot’ but has to be done this month and for now, that difference in valuation will stop anything from moving forwards.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who say while Juventus think there is a deal to be done, the numbers don’t currently match up.
Reports throughout this week have indicated that Juventus believe they can get Luiz from Aston Villa this summer and include McKennie in the deal to bring the overall cost of the operation down.
That continued today, with a report indicated they were valuing the American at €30m, so a deal worth €30m plus McKennie could get them their man, although on the face of it that seemed a little delusional.
