Aston Villa have moved in with an offer to sign a Monaco player with as many as 10 sides chasing his signature, according to a new report.
Villa make summer recruitment plans with Europe in sight
Villa's summer is already taking shape on multiple fronts.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts
Fourth in the Premier League table with European football already secured for next season through league position, the Villans are preparing for a period of sustained ambition rather than consolidation.
A Europa League quarter-final against Bologna — with the first leg imminent — keeps Unai Emery in the hunt for continental silverware this season, while defensive recruitment is understood to be a priority before the window opens, with a £25m bid for Leeds centre-back Pascal Struijk among the plans being mooted at Villa Park.
The Ollie Watkins situation, meanwhile, is reportedly being tested by AC Milan, who are purusing the 30-year-old striker aggressively ahead of a summer in which his future at Villa could be decided.
The club are not short of activity, on or off the pitch.
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He could be snapped up for a bargain fee this summer.
The latest development to emerge from Villa's recruitment planning, however, involves a face largely unfamiliar to the English football public — though it may not remain so for long.
Villa make offer to Monaco keeper Yanis Benchaouch
According to Africafoot, Villa have gone significantly beyond mere interest in Monaco's Yanis Benchaouch, after making a 'concrete' move for the 19-year-old goalkeeper.
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Emery's side have apparently submitted a formal offer to the player that includes a net annual salary of around £740,000 and a five-year contract — a proposal that signals Villa are treating this as a serious and immediate priority rather than a speculative punt on future talent.
The structure of the offer is notably shrewd.
Villa have included a substantial sell-on percentage for Monaco — a deliberate gesture of goodwill designed to smooth over the financial complications arising from Benchaouch's decision to decline a professional contract with the principality club.
Without that concession, any move could trigger a dispute over training compensation, making Monaco's cooperation difficult to secure.
By pre-empting that tension with a meaningful financial incentive for his former club, Villa are attempting to make this deal as straightforward as possible.
He joined Monaco's academy in 2021 from Trélissac and rapidly impressed, winning the Coupe Gambardella with the club's U18 side in 2022/23.
His international breakthrough came at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile in October 2025, where he was Morocco's first-choice keeper throughout their extraordinary run.
Playing six matches and conceding just five goals, he was outstanding before suffering a quadriceps injury in the semi-final against France — carried off on a stretcher in tears, he watched from the stands as his teammates beat Argentina in the final to claim Morocco's first ever U20 World Cup.
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He is a world champion at 19. He stands 1.88m tall, already physically imposing, and has since been called into Morocco's U23 setup, keeping a clean sheet on his debut against Côte d'Ivoire.
Africafoot report that Villa are far from alone in this pursuit.
Al-Gharafa of Qatar have entered with a financially superior offer, and around 10 clubs in total are tracking the situation, including Bournemouth, who failed to land him in the winter window, plus Italian sides Monza and Modena.
However, those close to the player have indicated to Africafoot that Benchaouch will not be rushed.
He intends to wait until the end of the season before making any decision, with the sporting project — not the financial package — his primary criterion.
For a teenager, being offered the Premier League and European football by a top-four club, Villa's pitch is a powerful one.
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