Unai Emery mooted to sign Reinildo on cut-price deal in Aston Villa approach change
Dan Bardell believes signing Reinildo from Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window could allow Unai Emery to be more versatile with his Aston Villa setup.
The Sun reported (9 May) that the Villans are battling with Manchester United for the signature of the Mozambique international.
Given that he can play in various positions across the back line, he has been mooted as a useful player for an Emery system.
Sky Sports and talkSPORT journalist Bardell believes his signing would allow Villa to play the way they wanted to last preseason.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “That kind of player would make sense. We’ve been linked to Hermoso quite strongly in the last month as well. Because of the way that Emery wants to build from the back, that’s why you see Konsa at right back.
“I know the plan in pre-season was going to be Pau Torres at left-back, Mings would play left centre back and Konsa right centre-back with Cash right. That would have given Emery the flexibility to push Cash higher up and then build up with that back three.
“That was the plan and that obviously got completely ruined with Tyrone Mings going off injured.
“I think the more multifunctional players we have, the more flexibility that Emery can have because Villa play the same system every game off the ball and it’s in the build-up that he wants that flexibility.
“I think signing players like Reinaldo who can play full-back and centre-back makes complete sense with what Emery wants to do.”
Should Aston Villa sign Reinildo?
The defender has made just 13 La Liga appearances this season under Diego Simeone with seven coming as starts [FotMob].
Given that he has played just 684 league minutes this campaign, Atleti may be willing to let him go for a cut price this summer transfer window.
At 30 years old, he may be slightly older than what Monchi would typically look at but for the price, he could be a worthwhile addition.
He has clocked up some top stats in the past year but have to be taken with a pinch of salt given his lack of game time.
Reinildo has had a positive time going forward which has seen him register 1.39 shot-creating actions and 0.51 shots of his own per 90 [Fbref].
With the ball at his feet, he has shown some good signs with 1.39 progressive carries and 0.88 successful take-ons per 90 which shows he isn’t shy to get on the ball and move forward.
He is also defensively sound with 3.92 tackles and 2.02 interceptions per game.
What may let him down under Emery is his lack of useful passing stats. Just 51.57 passes per 90 compared to 59.54 for Ezri Konsa [Fbref], who has played much more this season, will be a red flag.
For the cheap fee being touted, Reinildo may be worth a punt by Monchi and Co. this summer.
In other Aston Villa news, Gary Neville has slammed Diego Carlos for a “shocker” of an incident in the draw with Liverpool
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