Monchi jets out to Madrid in ‘significant’ Aston Villa transfer move, deal close
Aston Villa chief Monchi was spotted watching Rayo Vallecano in Madrid to watch January target Andrei Ratiu, according to the Sun on Sunday.
The newspaper reported on Sunday (12 January) that the President of Club Operations missed the Villans’ clash against West Ham in a “significant move” to sign the right back.
The Spaniard has jetted to his homeland to watch the 26-year-old and Oscar Mingueza but typically he would send his scouts and only gets personally involved when a deal is close to completion.
Aston Villa and Monchi interested in signing Andrei Ratiu
Unai Emery is in need of a new right-back option at Villa Park to provide some positive competition for Matty Cash.
The Poland international has often shared his role with Ezri Konsa but the ex-Brentford man certainly performs better in his usual centre-back role.
With that being said, a deal to bring Ratiu to B6 could prove to be a smart move for the Villans ahead of the second half of the season.
The Vallecano defender has featured in La Liga across the last two seasons and could now be set to follow in the footsteps of Alex Moreno, two years on from his January move to the West Midlands.
It is clear that the interest in the 26-year-old by Villa is somewhat true given that Monchi has taken the time to watch him in the flesh.
As the winter window goes on, it will be interesting to see how quickly this scouting mission is actioned and if the defender moves to England before the end of the month.
In other Aston Villa news, a first signing of January transfer window could now be done at Villa Park.
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