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Aston Villa are poised to miss out on midfield target Arthur Atta after Fiorentina made a rapid move for him, with a medical scheduled for the coming hours.
Villa suffered a huge setback recently after Amadou Onana picked up an ACL injury while representing Belgium at the World Cup.
With Douglas Luiz having left, Aston Villa were already a body down in the midfield department.
The club appeared to waste no time and started to put out feelers in the market, with it being suggested in Italy that they had‘made a strong move’ to sign Atta, who was a major target.
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However, the Villans were not the only club keeping tabs on Atta’s situation at Udinese, as recently Juventus’ general manager Giovanni Carnevali ‘asked for information’ about the 23-year-old, with the race expected to take off.
That has happened perhaps quicker than anyone thought though as Fiorentina sporting director Fabio Paratici has been working behind the scenes.
Fiorentina now have a deal in place to sign Atta, which is worth €30m, with add-ons taking it towards €40m, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
La Viola have now scheduled a medical for Atta to take place in the coming hours.
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2025–26 4th
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With Paratici spearheading Fiorentina’s transfer strategy, Atta is set to become the third signing in the transfer window, as La Viola have already signed Viery and Radu Dragusin from Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan which could become permanent.
Atta came through Rennes’ youth system, then joined Metz’s Under-17 side in 2019, and after a loan spell at Udinese in 2024, signed a four-year contract with the club in the summer of 2025.
The 23-year-old midfielder was productive for Udinese, scoring ten goals and providing four assists in 34 matches in all competitions in the recent campaign.
The French midfielder did attract substantial interest from clubs across Europe, but he is not the only midfielder Aston Villa have on their transfer shortlist, with one target beingRoma star Neil El Aynouni.
A move to Aston Villa would have provided Atta with the opportunity to play in the Champions League next season, something which Fiorentina can not offer.
La Viola though look to be making real strides with Paratici pulling the transfer strings.