Unai Emery told to make Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno exit call after Aston Villa transfer update
Alan Hutton has handed Unai Emery a transfer ultimatum and told Aston Villa that one of Lucas Digne or Alex Moreno has to leave after new transfer updates at Villa Park.
Unai Emery rotated his defensive options over the course of last season with Moreno and Digne sharing the load at left-back both in the Premier League and the Europa Conference League campaign.
The Villa boss has now added a third option to his ranks after Villa announced the signing of Ian Maatsen who has joined the ranks at Villa Park in a £35million move from Premier League rivals Chelsea [BBC Sport, 29 June].
Hutton believes the Dutch international will immediately become Emery’s first-choice option on the left of defence but admits that it will be a “flip of the coin” when it comes to deciding which defender makes way.
“I think one has to leave,” Hutton exclusively told Villa News.
“You’ve got Digne still there, Moreno and now Maatsen. They’ve paid a lot of money for him and he had a really good season last year at Dortmund and got all the way to the Champions League final.
“At this moment in time, I’d say he’s probably the starter. We’ll have to wait and see and you have to see how pre-season goes but one will have to leave because you don’t need three left-backs of that level.
“Moreno I did like and I thought he got forward really well and he likes to attack.
“It’s probably a flip of the coin when you talk about defensive duties between the two of them, but Unai Emery really swapped them quite a lot even within a game.
“You don’t see that a lot with fullbacks so maybe he wasn’t happy with one of them for whatever reason, but I think there has to be some sort of movement.
“You don’t need three.”
Will Lucas Digne exit Aston Villa amid summer transfer speculation?
As Hutton suggests, Villa do not need three first-choice left-backs as they head into the new Premier League season, even with Champions League football now back on the agenda.
One of Moreno or Digne is going to have to make way before the window slams shut at the end of the summer, but at this moment in time, it isn’t clear which defender is more likely to complete an exit.
Digne had a better season last term and has a better injury record, but he is likely worth more than his Spanish counterpart and will be paid a higher wage, therefore Villa would make more money via his sale.
But will be happy to play second fiddle to Maatsen? Only time will tell and Emery is going to have to make that difficult call sooner rather than later.
In other Aston Villa news, Ollie Watkins is now closer to the exit door than ever before after new international developments this summer
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