Emi Buendia has been linked with a move to Leeds United but could it trigger a potential swap deal?
Championship winners Leeds United are expected to revive their interest in Aston Villa midfielder Emi Buendia this summer. The West Yorkshire side are back in the Premier League for the first time in two seasons and are desperate to buck the trend of newly-promoted teams immediately dropping back down to the second tier.
Last season, all three promoted teams in Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town were relegated while remarkably in the previous campaign the Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town all suffered the same fate. It was just the third time in history that all three teams had dipped straight back down to the Championship, with the only other instance coming in 1997-98. While in the previous 99 seasons before that, it had never happened.
It’s an outlier of just how big the gap between the Premier League and the Championship is getting, and it’s fair to say that Daniel Farke won’t need reminding of this, having twice suffered relegation with Norwich City in the past after leading them to the second-tier title in the previous season. Solid Premier League-quality recruitment will certainly be at the forefront of Leeds’ plans this summer, but what does the future hold for Emi Buendia and could Aston Villa benefit from his sale?
Why Leeds are interested in Emi Buendia
Caught Offside understands that Emi Buendia is no longer a part of Unai Emery’s plans at Villa Park.
The Argentine only made 12 appearances in the Premier League last season and spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Bayer Leverkusen where despite showing glimpses of promise he failed to secure a permanent home.
Buendia once cost Villa a club-record £38m but is now approaching the final 12 months of his five-year-contract and is likely to be available for around £20m.
He’s had some good moments in a Villa shirt in his 99 appearances but has never quite been able to replicate the form he showed at Norwich at Championship level when he was managed by Daniel Farke.
Buendia is behind the likes of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey among others in the pecking order and it’s suspected Villa will look to cut their losses on the Argentine to aid their PSR cause.
Leeds will see Buendia as a key target due to their need for a recognised No.10 that can create chances and chip in with goals. The position is currently occupied by Brenden Aaronson, who showed signs of making a renaissance with nine goals at Championship level, but there are still some qualms about whether he’s too lightweight to cope with the demands of the Premier League.
Buendia when fully fit has proven he’s capable of performing at the top level, and has proven he can work well in a Daniel Farke system after scoring 15 and assisting 16 times during his final season at the Canaries at Championship level.
A figure of £20m has been mooted by numerous outlets although Leeds may look to try and haggle the price down to enable them to strengthen in other key areas such as upfront and in the goalkeeping department.
The potential swap deal Leeds United and Aston Villa could look to strike
Illan Meslier has been Leeds United’s first choice goalkeeper for five seasons. He joined the club from Lorient on loan and was thrust suddenly into the team during the promotion campaign of 2019/20 when he kept seven clean sheets in 10 games after Kiko Casilla’s suspension. It prompted Marcelo Bielsa to make the move permanent for around £5m and he rewarded his manager’s display of faith with a top quality season as the club finished ninth in the Premier League against the odds despite having a significantly lower wage bill than their rivals.
Meslier was a near ever present for Leeds’ next two seasons in the Premier League and was consistently linked with a string of top teams throughout this period. However, a dismal April 2023 where Leeds conceded 22 goals in seven matches, led to a huge downfall in Javi Gracia’s time as manager, and led to Sam Allardyce dropping Meslier from the team in the final three games of the season as the club were relegated.
He played 44 times in the 2023/24 season as the Whites lost out on promotion via the play-off final and was again used regularly this season with 39 appearances. Meslier has just experienced by far the most difficult season of his career en route to the Championship title, with notable mistakes against Swansea City, Sunderland, Hull City and Portsmouth among others costing the club points. He was dropped for the matchday squad for the final seven matches of the season and is likely to move on,according to Mail Sport.
Villa at this moment in time don’t have a recognised understudy to Emi Martinez and could look to take advantage of the situation with a cut-price move for Meslier to bolster the goalkeeping department, with Buenida potentially moving in the opposite direction. Meslier is still only 25-years-old and though his confidence is low at the moment, he still has many years of his career to redeem himself and rise to his full potential.
Goalkeepers often peak later in their careers and are reliant on confidence, and though Meslier has struggled this term, he’s proven in the past that he is capable of making a difference on occasion. Meslier in 2020/21 for example made the fourth most saves of any goalkeeper (140) while becoming the first ever goalkeeper under 21 to keep more than 10 clean sheets in a Premier League season. Meanwhile, in the 2021/22 term, he made a league-leading 142 saves.
He could provide solid cover for Martinez next term after Robin Olsen’s departure and could cost the club very little with Buendia moving in the opposite direction to Elland Road.
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