Aston Villa
Aston Villa are in the picture to sign FC Famalicão’s Ibrahima Ba in the summer.
The centre-back’s development at the Portuguese club has caught the attention of Aston Villa and a few other clubs.
Ba came up through the ranks of Senegalese side AJEL de Rufisque’s youth system. He first moved to Europe in 2023, when French side Valenciennes signed him on loan, where he made only one senior appearance.
In July 2024, he joined Famalicão on a permanent transfer and made his first team debut last May.
The 20-year-old was in and out of the side in the first half of the season and has been a regular this year. To put it in context, he made 20 appearances and played every minute in league since January 18th.
His Primeira Liga stats per game for this season are as follows:
Interceptions: 1.6
Tackles: 1.0
Balls recovered: 3.4
Dribbled past: 0.06
Clearances: 4.3
Blocked shots: 0.8
Duels won: 3.9
Errors leading to goal: 0
Aston Villa face competition
Ibrahima Ba’s overall performances have seen a few clubs like Aston Villa, FC Porto and Sporting take notice.
That’s according to Africa Foot, who cover the latest on Unai Emery’s side and other clubs.
Their title says Porto and Sporting are pushing to sign him and within the report, they explain these two clubs, along with Benfica, SC Braga and Vitória Guimarães are all keen.
In short, multiple Portuguese clubs are looking to snatch the player away from Famalicão.
In addition to these five clubs, both the Premier League side and Stade Rennais have expressed their interest in Ba. It’s not clear if Aston Villa expressed it with his club, agent or both.
Either way, the Villans want to bring the Senegalese to Villa Park in the summer and face a big battle against the Portuguese clubs.
Ba could be on the move in the summer and Famalicão want at least €10m to sanction his sale.
Contract, value and agent info
The player has a contract until 2029 and his value, as per Transfermarkt, now is €3m. It was €100k in October 2024 and the rise gives an idea of the progress made so far. Agency Agency Afsan Sports Management are representing Ibrahima Ba.
Unai Emery has Ezri Konsa, Victor Lindelöf, Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres as the central defenders at his disposal. On Monday, Torres said he won’t leave until his contract expires in 2028.
If Ba were to join Aston Villa, he initially has to settle for a backup role.
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