Alex Moreno
Alex Moreno
Aston Villa left-back Alex Moreno could be granted a return to Spain on a permanent basis this summer, as he prepares to enter the final year of his contract. Moreno spent last season out on loan at Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest and, although he lost his place in the starting XI after being a regular early on, he helped them secure Conference League football.
Moreno, who turned 31 on Sunday, agreed to join Villa in the winter window of 2023 and became Unai Emery's first signing for the club when he signed from La Liga outfit Real Betis. He signed a three-and-a-half year deal when moving, and there remains a single season left on that deal to run. Villa, though, are expected to try and recoup a transfer fee for him this summer.
Moreno returns to Villa this summer, with Forest having decided against taking up the option of signing him permanently, with familiar face Lucas Digne still ahead of him in the left-back pecking order. The Lions of course recruited Ian Maatsen for north of £30m from Chelsea last summer and the Dutch international ended the season strongly and is expected to be pushing harder than ever for a starting place under Emery next summer.
The healthy competition already in place at Villa Park means that Moreno would be free to find a new club, and it could be that he returns to Betis, who banked around £12.5m when they agreed to part with him in January 2023. The beaten Conference League finalists are in the market for a left-back this summer.
Reports from Spain claim that they're also trying to bring back Junior Firpo, another former player who came through the club's academy and B team before breaking into the Betis first-team in 2018 and earning himself a move to Barcelona after a single season. Alternatively, Moreno fits the bill and El Desmarque add that they've already made contact with the players representatives and held talks.
Villa are likely to trim the fringes of their squad for good this summer; the likes of Emiliano Buendia, Leander Dendoncker, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Philippe Coutinho are all expected to be moved on permanently after a series of loan spells, and Moreno is likely to fall into that category.
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