Last summer, Marca stated Unai Emery wanted Aston Villa to sign Villarreal’s Álex Baena.
The Premier League club weren’t successful and are reportedly still chasing the 23-year-old for the summer window.
Two months ago, we covered claims from Spain that Unai Emery and Aston Villa director Monchi are both backing Baena’s arrival.
Fast forward to May and Wednesday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo covers Atlético Madrid’s desire to secure the winger’s services.
Diego Simeone’s side are aware Aston Villa are keen, and seem to be worried. Due to the English club’s interest, the report claims Los Rojiblancos’ plan is to overtake competitors and wrap up the operation as soon as possible.
Atlético director Carlos Bucero will meet Villarreal president Fernando Roig this week to discuss the Spain international’s transfer.
Baena has a €60m release clause and the Yellow Submarine expect this to be paid in the event of a transfer. The newspaper claims the Madrid club are hoping to bring the price down to €45-50m.
Roig has been speaking AS, and admitted the attacker could leave after this season.
“It’s clear that one man in particular [Baena] is being talked about a lot,” he said.
“We, at the moment, have zero offers. It’s true that Álex had the opportunity to leave in the winter and that there’s apparently some interest from some clubs. But right now, no specific interest has come in. We’re more than happy if he stays, but if at some point it’s decided that he has to leave, it must be a very good thing for the club and for the player.”
When asked about the Atlético links, Roig explained: “We haven’t negotiated anything, but the league isn’t over yet. There’s still one match-day left for all the teams.”
“I suppose that once the competition is over, the moves will begin, although this is a strange summer for some clubs that are facing a new competition, like the Club World Cup. Those clubs do seem likely to strengthen their squad for this new competition sooner, but they are very few and privileged.”
Roig’s comments should give encouragement to Aston Villa, who will have to act quickly if they wish to sign Baena.