Aston Villa have reportedly made progress in reaching an agreement with Girona over the transfer of left-back Alex Moreno.
The 32-year-old joined us from Real Betis in January 2023 and quickly became both a popular and key figure in Unai Emery’s side.
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However, Moreno has been limited to 48 appearances for the club since, as an injury setback at the end of his debut campaign and a subsequent loan spell elsewhere derailed his time with us as he now looks set for a permanent departure this summer.
According to journalist Ivan Quiros, as confirmed by Matteo Moretto, Girona are making progress in their bid to sign the Spaniard, as an agreement is said to have been reached on the transfer fee of around €2m, and now it’s down to agreeing on personal terms with the player to ensure that the switch goes through.
While Moreno was an excellent fit for Emery’s system and style of play early on in his time with us, competition from Lucas Digne eventually saw him drop down the pecking order, while the signing of Ian Maatsen from Chelsea last summer arguably spelt the end of his tenure at Villa before a loan spell at Nottingham Forest delayed the inevitable.
It’s certainly a shame the way his stint with us has gone as he showed so much promise in the early stages, but with two more established options ahead of him, it makes sense for both the player and club to part ways, and hopefully Girona’s offer both to Villa and the Spanish defender are deemed acceptable to push the transfer through.
Should the deal be confirmed, it will continue a clear-out from the club this summer as we’ve had to take steps to ensure we’re in compliance with PSR and UEFA’s financial regulations, having entered into a settlement agreement with the governing body over the next three years.
Villa have committed to reducing our wage bill and satisfying their criteria on acceptable losses, and so that in turn has arguably been a significant motivation behind decisions to either loan out or sell permanently the likes of Jacob Ramsey, Enzo Barrenechea, Philippe Coutinho, Leander Dendoncker and others, while our loanees from last season haven’t returned.
Similarly to Coutinho and Dendoncker in particular though, Villa are cutting away the deadwood in the squad that have no role to play moving forward and have ultimately been a drain on resources. Moreno will seemingly follow suit in the coming days or week, and hopefully that gives us a little bit of freedom to bring in reinforcements before the deadline.
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