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Aston Villa eye Fikayo Tomori transfer as AC Milan look to sell
Aston Villa are monitoring defender Fikayo Tomori as AC Milan prepare for a January sale, Calciomercato reports.
According to the Italian news outlet's website [30 November], the Serie A outfit are willing to sanction Tomori's sale "for something less" than the £24million reported valuation in the summer.
The Englishman is eager to return to the Premier League after three years in Italy and is set to be available for a cut-price fee, also alerting the attention of West Ham United and Juventus.
Fikayo Tomori could solve all the problems for Aston Villa
Unai Emery is in uncharted territory at Villa Park as his tenure is questioned for the first time in his Aston Villa career after the 3-0 defeat against Chelsea on Sunday [1 December].
The loss at Stamford Bridge marked an eight-match winless run for Emery, wherein his side has lost six, conceded 14 goals and kept two clean sheets since October.
Villa are running thin in the centre-back department, and those available are letting the side down; Pau Torres produced a "howler" in the loss against Chelsea, conceding an indirect free-kick for handling the ball, similar to Tyrone Mings' incident against Club Brugge that cost Emery the three points in the Champions League.
However, the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules are set to rear their ugly head in Birmingham once again - if Aston Villa are prepared to take advantage of Tomori's situation in Milan, someone will have to go, most likely Diego Carlos after he saw a move to Fulham collapse in the summer.
A necessary sacrifice to acquire a top-level centre-back, Tomori excelled after breaking through the academy ranks at Chelsea and was sold on during the Cobham academy exodus in West London, which saw several young stars, including Tammy Abraham, sold to even the books.
The 26-year-old has been a Champions League regular for AC Milan and helped Stefano Pioli claim the Serie A crown in the 2021/22 campaign - he would undoubtedly elevate the backline at Villa Park.
While a deal will prove challenging with Juventus and West Ham sniffing around, Monchi must utilise Villa's current Champions League status as a selling point and secure a statement signing for Emery.
In other Aston Villa news, Villa spies were sent to watch Valentina Atangana amid an emerging Everton transfer twist.