Transfer news latest as Aston Villa and AFC Bournemouth battle for the same promising transfer target.
Aston Villa are reportedly leading the race to sign a promising central defender but face competition from Premier League rivals AFC Bournemouth.
Unai Emery is eager to bring in several first-team-ready recruits this summer but that doesn’t mean the aim to sign young talent hasn’t gone out of the window entirely. The recent acquisition of 19-year-old forward Zepiqueno Redmond proved just that, while more promising players are soon to be targeted.
French publication L’Equipe reports Toulouse centre-back Jaydee Canvot is one of those being eyed. Villa are said to be in pole position to land the 18-year-old, who recently enjoyed his breakthrough in the Toulouse senior team.
Canvot, a current France U19 international, racked up 18 appearances in Ligue 1 last campaign, starting 12 of those games. That’s quite the feat for a player who hadn’t played a senior game before last September. He’s also fairly versatile as he can play as a defensive midfielder if need be. That’s a quality Emery really admires.
Bournemouth also in race to sign defender
Villa may be the favourites to sign Canvot but that doesn’t mean they’re the only ones vying for his signature. Le Parisien reported last month that Bournemouth are in the picture for Canvot as they’ve been keeping close tabs on his situation and have already made contact with Toulouse to register their interest.
It could be a tricky decision for Canvot if he has the choice of the two clubs. Although Villa are a bigger club and have the allure of Europa League status, Bournemouth may be able to provide more immediate game time due to Dean Huijsen’s departure for Real Madrid and Ilya Zabarnyi’s likely exit, potentially for Paris Saint-Germain.
The Cherries have proven to be quite the talent factory for young defenders, helping them break through as Premier League regulars earlier than expected. That said, Villa aren’t exactly a bad option in that regard as Emery is very good at working with youngsters. The busy fixture schedule thanks to European qualification could open up chances for game time, too.
Villa now utilising PSR loophole
Emery’s side certainly don’t have the deepest pockets this summer but the concerns over a potential breaching of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) are at least now over, as Villa will follow in the footsteps of Premier League rivals Chelsea in a last-ditch effort to avoid sanctions.
Back in April, it emerged that the Blues had sold their women’s team to parent company BlueCo for £198.7 million, putting the overall business into profit rather than a loss. Villa are now adopting a similar approach as Birmingham World understands that the club are in advanced talks to sell a 10 per cent stake of the women’s team.
Villa’s sister company, V Sports, owned by chairmen Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, will then buy the rest of the women’s side. There’s therefore no longer any need to rush any sales as a result. It’s still likely that Emiliano Martinez and others will leave the club as another set of regulations - UEFA’s squad cost rules (SCR) - must be followed. That’s nowhere near as urgent of a concern, though, so at lesat some attention can turn to incoming business.
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