Aston Villa looking in Portugal and Spain for new defender – The Athletic
Aston Villa are looking at players in Portugal and Spain, as well as targeting Southampton’s Jan Bednarek for their centre-back position according to The Athletic.
Villa signed Diego Carlos in a £27m deal from Sevilla this summer, but the Brazilian is set to miss the majority of the campaign after rupturing his achilles tendon in the 2-1 win over Everton.
With Kortney Hause leaving for Watford on loan, Gerrard has just three senior centre-back options at the club in Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Calum Chambers.
Jan Bednarek has been identified as a potential option to come in and bolster the squad, but a report from The Athletic says they are also assessing players in both Portugal and Spain.
The club are also considering moving for another forward after their move for Ismaila Sarr collapsed, while a midfielder could also come in if the right deal is found.
Scouting
It’s always good to see that the club aren’t simply moving just for the most obvious target and are instead doing their homework on players that could represent value and add something to the squad.
Portugal and Spain are always known for producing good technical players, who are comfortable playing out from the back and that is something Steven Gerrard wants.
Bednarek is an option and would strengthen the squad, but Southampton are likely to ask for a fairly big fee because of the stage of the transfer window we’re in and that means a better deal could be available elsewhere for that fee.
In attack another addition would be ideal, however Cameron Archer showed in pre-season that he is capable of providing goals if given the chance.
Midfield has been a priority all summer with failed moves for Yves Bissouma and Kalvin Phillips, but there’s no point signing players just for the sake of it and if the club choose to hold fire on that then it will make a lot of sense.
In other Aston Villa news, Bertrand Traore has joined Istanbul Basaksehir on a season-long loan