Gerard Deulofeu to stay put at Udinese despite Aston Villa interest as he suffers new injury – Fabrizio Romano
By Tim Fadipe
Aston Villa target Gerard Deulofeu won’t be on the move this January as the winger requires surgery nixing any possible move for him, according to Fabrizio Romano.
New manager Unai Emery was looking to bolster his attacking options following the fine start he has made but will have to look towards other targets.
Romano reported via his personal Twitter account on Friday (27 January) that Deulofeu was on Villa’s shortlist for this month but he’s going to stay put at Udinese.
The Spaniard had been performing well in Serie A this season having scored two goals and provided six assists in his 16 appearances.
Would have been a solid option
Deulofeu is no stranger to the Premier League having made over 120 appearances across his two stints with Everton and Watford respectively. His stock had plummeted somewhat over recent years, but he has found himself in Serie A over the last two years and was an integral part of the team last season scoring 13 goals in the league.
Emery and Deulofeu have a history together as they lifted the Europa League together when the Catalan international was on loan to Sevilla in 2015. With this level of trust established by both of them, it’s no surprise that Emery is looking towards a familiar face to try and boost the attacking options of this reinvigorated Villa side. However, with news of the impending surgery, other options will need to be explored now.
Since Emery has taken over at Villa, the team have been performing very well and the board should see it in their best interest to back him. They have accumulated 10 points from their last five games and sit at three points away from a Conference League spot in the table.
With Deulofeu now out of the question, Emery and the board will need to move swiftly onto their next targets with the window almost at a close.
In other Aston Villa news, James Maddison is one to watch for the Villans in their next game.