Aston Villa are reportedly interested in Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha, but no talks have been held between the two clubs as of yet.
Unai Emery will no doubt prioritise his midfield this summer after the departure of Youri Tielemans earlier this week, while Amadou Onana faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury.
There has been better news for Villa in recent weeks with Boubacar Kamara recovering from an injury setback of his own and he is now ready to feature during pre-season, but we certainly look light in that department ahead of the new Premier League campaign starting next month.
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In turn, Fabrizio Romano reports that Palhinha is on our shortlist of midfield targets, but despite claims in Portugal that Villa are moving forward with a move for the Portuguese midfielder, he adds that an official bid has not been submitted as of yet and further, no talks have taken place between the two clubs either.
That’s not to rule out the possibility of a swoop, with A Bola reporting that it would be a loan with an option to buy, but time will tell if the 31-year-old is at the top of that list of possible midfield transfer targets.
It’s certainly a surprise name though given Palhinha has had run-ins with some of the Villa players in recent meetings with Tottenham, as he had a heated exchange with Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers after our win at Spurs last season, while he was the player who put in the challenge that ended Kamara’s season in January.
Nevertheless, it appears as though he could be a possible reinforcement for us this summer, and having gained valuable experience with Spurs, Bayern, Fulham, Sporting and Braga, he could be a useful short-term fix for us to fill the void left behind by Onana, with the expectation that we’ll also add another signing for the Tielemans role who has the attributes to dictate and control possession as effectively as the Belgian international did over the past two years.
Given Romano states that no talks have been held yet though, there is no doubt plenty of time for other possible targets to emerge as better options if Vila do indeed have a shortlist in mind.