Lucas Digne may be bound for 2024 Aston Villa exit as £120,000-a-week development emerges at Villa Park
Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne may well be bound for a surprise Villa Park exit over the summer transfer window with Unai Emery seeking targets elsewhere.
According to The Athletic reporter Jacob Tanswell (3 January), Emery again has his eye on Sevilla full-back Marcos Acuna with the Spaniard and Football President Monchi having deep-rooted knowledge of the Argentinian World Cup winner during his time in Seville.
Any move for Acuna may only materialise should Digne depart Villa Park over the summer. There were talks during pre-season regarding an exit for the Frenchman but it never materialised and given his hefty £120,000-per-week wages, a departure is seen as a considerable alleviation on the club’s financial books.
Given Digne’s tremendous form for Aston Villa this season, his huge wage package in Birmingham is certainly seen as something that could be a huge pressure reliever on their finances over the summer which certainly means a surprise exit is on the cards.
And what a surprise it could well be given his stunning rise to prominence under Emery’s management before his hamstring injury suffered against Manchester United on Boxing Day.
Few defenders in the Premier League have been as creative in the final third as the Aston Villa fullback this season. Digne sits in the 94th percentile of the division’s full-backs for crosses attempted per game, averaging 6.66 per 90 minutes [Fbref].
More often than not these balls into the penalty area carry with them a serious goal threat as well. Digne averages more shot-creating actions per match than 86 per cent of left-backs in the Premier League and he is a crucial part of Aston Villa’s creative work in possession.
For his 18 Premier League appearances this season, the 30-year-old has only managed to pick up two assists, but his work and influence when marauding down the left flank have been deserving of more goal involvement.
When compared to his positional peers in the Premier League, Digne places in the 90th percentile for expected assists per game, despite faltering in the 69th percentile for assists per 90 minutes.
The Frenchman has also unexpectedly excelled with his work off the ball too, so far averaging 1.1 interceptions per game, and 1.7 tackles per game, has so far 56% of his total duels and 63 per cent of his aerial duels. Impressive reading given Digne has always been known to give easy chances away defending his own goal.
Digne leads the way in a number of metrics for Villa this season, including aerial duels won per game (1.6) [WhoScored].
Next on that list is Ollie Watkins with ‘only’ 1.1 per game, so Digne is above and beyond the rest in that regard.
The former Everton player is also top for interceptions per game (1.2), crosses per game (1.7) and key passes per game (1.8).
It’s certainly a real kick in the teeth to hear this fresh new development on Digne’s career at Villa Park given he’s come on huge leaps and bounds since Emery first walked through the doors at the club.
However, given the huge financial relief getting rid of Digne’s wages could do to potential recruitment under Monchi’s stewardship this year, it won’t be a surprise to see Aston Villa go down that ruthless route in the summer window.
Ruthless but necessary for the club’s profit and sustainability measures.
In other Aston Villa news, a first-team regular has been dubbed a “hero” by Garth Crooks.