Emi Buendia transfer: Aston Villa make new demands to Bayer Leverkusen

Aston Villa and Bayer Leverkusen are currently clashing over loan-to-buy terms for Emiliano Buendia, according to Florian Plettenberg.

The Sky Sports journalist posted on X (25 January) that the Bundesliga side are exploring a loan deal for the Argentine, who has been heavily linked with an exit from Villa Park before 3 February.

Leverkusen see Buendia as a replacement for Martin Terrier who will miss the rest of the season through injury, but only want a loan deal with an option to buy – while Villa demand that is an obligation instead.

Emi Buendia transfer exit looks inevitable at Aston Villa

Having broken Villa's transfer record at the time upon signing from Norwich City for around £38million back in 2021, Buendia's career in claret and blue has taken a significant nosedive since Unai Emery's appointment.

Helping to steer the Villans to seventh in Emery's first half-season in charge, Buendia's 2023/24 campaign was cut short before it even got going, with his August 2023 knee injury an almighty setback.

Game-time has been hard to come by since making his return after a long lay-off, despite ardent praise from Emery, and Villa's transfer stance makes clear that they're happy for him to move on this month.

Standing firm on Leverkusen's – or seemingly any other interest club's – loan offer including an obligation to buy, rather than merely an option, shows that cutting ties in the summer is all-but inevitable.

That could damage other teams' hopes of signing him before 3 February – namely second-tier hopefuls Leeds United – but before the deadline passes, you'd still expect Buendia to be sporting new colours.

In other Aston Villa news, the Villans are on the verge of sealing another transfer with one final detail yet to be ironed out.

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