Lille duo could help solve two Aston Villa transfer puzzles
Edon Zhegrova playing against Aston Villa in 2023/24
Edon Zhegrova playing against Aston Villa in 2023/24
(Image: PA)
Aston Villa have several areas of Unai Emery’s squad where additions will likely be needed during this summer’s transfer window.
Villa plan to raise funds via player sales, but are not hosting a fire sale of their top talents, despite being found to have breached UEFA’s financial rules - including having a squad cost ratio of over 80 per cent in 2024.
Fined €11 million, Villa can only register a new player to their squad for the Europa League if they record a positive List A transfer balance.
UEFA defines the List A transfer balance as the difference between cost savings from outgoing players and the new costs from incoming players at the applicable deadline for submitting the List A squad.
This essentially means that the cost of players added to the List A squad must not exceed the cost of those being removed, but Villa do not view this as an issue.
Villa need to drive down their wage bill this summer - a task already helped by Philippe Coutinho completing a permanent move to Vasco da Gama, while Robin Olsen and Kortney Hause departed following the expiry of their contracts.
Emi Buendía, Kosta Nedeljković, Leander Dendoncker, and Alex Moreno will all be allowed to move on, as will Louie Barry, following the first summer exit: another academy graduate, Kaine Kesler-Hayden.
Decisions on the futures of former Juventus duo Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea will also need to be made in the coming days and weeks.
From last season’s first team, further sales are expected. High earners such as Emi Martínez and Lucas Digne could depart, while Leon Bailey is also expected to move on.
Digne is in the final year of his deal but remains one of the club’s highest earners. Martínez, meanwhile, will turn 33 later this year and is understood to be open to a new challenge.
Villa signed Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund last January, but he is not a like-for-like replacement for Bailey - although he certainly has plenty to offer Unai Emery’s attack.
Having two players per position is key for Emery, meaning that if Bailey departs, surely a new winger will arrive.
Lille’s Edon Zhegrova could be an interesting proposition, considering the French club also have a goalkeeper whom Villa have no doubt conducted background checks on.
Lucas Chevalier, worth around £40 million, could be an ideal replacement for Martínez if the Argentina international moves on.
The 23-year-old is already regarded as one of the best in Ligue 1 and is seen as a long-term contender for France’s number one spot.
Signing Chevalier would significantly lower the average age of Villa’s starting XI and help reduce the wage bill.
Lille's Zhegrova, meanwhile, would also fit the bill for what Emery wants from his right winger and is available for transfer, as confirmed by the French club’s president, Olivier Létang.
“Edon has expressed his wish to leave,” he said. “It doesn’t seem appropriate to me to keep him with a year left on his contract in the current economic context of French football. [His departure is something] we’re anticipating.”
In 2023/24, Zhegrova recorded 22 goal contributions in 47 total appearances for Lille and also impressed at Villa Park in the Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg.
Injury ruled him out of the second leg in France, but he still helped Lille qualify for the Champions League last term.
After scoring three goals in four qualifiers for UEFA’s elite club competition, the 26-year-old then scored once and assisted once in the five league phase matches he played, having missed most of the campaign through an adductor injury.
Zhegrova had started the season in strong form, scoring four goals in 10 Ligue 1 games, but he missed the entire second half of the season.