Carney Chukwuemeka could be set to leave Aston Villa for AC Milan – report
Aston Villa wonderkid Carney Chukwuemeka has given his approval for a move to Italian champions AC Milan, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The young midfielder is set to leave Villa Park following a long-term contract standoff with the club, which led to Steven Gerrard leaving him out of their pre-season tour of Australia.
Some of Europe’s biggest clubs are chasing his services, with Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport reporting on Monday (25 July) that Chukwuemeka is now favouring AC Milan.
The report claims that the reigning Serie A champions are willing to pay £15million for the starlet, some way short of Villa’s £20million asking price.
However, Villa are running out of time to get serious money for him as foreign clubs can snap him up for a nominal compensation fee in January.
Welcome development
AC Milan’s decision to pay anywhere close to what Villa want for Chukwuemeka is a huge shock considering his contract situation.
It was expected that Villa might be able to snag a few million if they could start a bidding war this summer, but nothing close to £15million.
Fans assumed that the £20million valuation was there to make a point, keeping Chukwuemeka at the club and locking him out of football for a year before he moved.
However, the revelation that Milan are willing to fork out such a huge fee when they can get him for less than a tenth of that in January is very much a welcome one.
Quite frankly, it would be a massive mistake for Villa not to take the money considering their record with selling players.
Matt Targett’s £15million sale to Newcastle earlier this summer was the second biggest fee they have received for a player since Christian Benteke joined Liverpool in 2015.
Receiving the same fee for Chukwuemeka would signal a welcome change in Villa’s transfer policy, showing they can actually turn a profit on a player instead of losing them for nothing.
The saga surrounding Chukwuemeka has dragged on for two years, before he even made his debut, so the entire situation has become tiresome now.
Let’s hope that the end is now in sight.
In other Aston Villa news, Keinan Davis’ move to Nottingham Forest is in doubt.