Al-Hilal make contact to sign Aston Villa star Lucas Digne, loan-to-buy deal on the cards – L’Equipe
Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal have made an approach for Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne, according to L’Equipe.
The French daily reported (12 January) that Al-Hilal are also exploring a move for Bayern Munich full-back Raphael Guerreiro, who only moved to the Allianz Arena in the summer.
Al-Hilal are said to be exploring the possibility of a loan deal with an option to buy for Digne.
The 30-year-old French left-back is under contract at Villa Park until June 2026.
Don’t do it…
Digne was not immediately in the plans of Unai Emery when the Spaniard was brought in as boss at Villa Park but he has been in absolutely brilliant form for the Premier League high-flyers this season.
Unfortunately, a hamstring injury sustained in the 3-2 defeat at Manchester United has ruled him out of the past two games and he will also sit out against Everton on Sunday (14 January) despite returning to light training.
However, with Villa just three points back of leaders Liverpool and sitting second in the Premier League, it is absolutely not the right time to be considering letting Digne leave the club when they need all their best players to continue the charge for glory.
Given his age, it might be one they could look to explore again in the summer, but in the here and now it is unthinkable for Villa to be letting one of their most important players depart in the middle of what has been a fine campaign thus far.
In other Aston Villa news, a BBC Sport pundit has predicted the outcome of the fixture against Everton.