Aston Villa beat Wolves to multi-million signing as Vitor Pereira now looks elsewhere
Aston Villa have got one over on their local rivals in the transfer market.
The Villans have had a largely quiet window to this point, but fans will be hopeful of business stepping up in the final weeks of the summer.
Looking ahead to the opening day clash against Newcastle United at Villa Park, it will certainly be interesting to see if any new faces are to feature.
With that being said, at least one addition is likely to make an impact under Unai Emery, dealing a dagger blow to Vitor Pereira at Wolves.
Aston Villa land Wolves transfer target
It is fair to say that the B6 club have been leaps and bounds ahead of the Old Gold in the Premier League table in recent years.
Despite this, the Molineux outfit have largely gotten the better of their claret and blue rivals on the pitch, much to the frustration of the Villa fans.
| Date | Result |
| 01/02/25 | 2-0 (L) |
| 08/10/23 | 1-1 (D) |
| 06/05/23 | 1-0 (L) |
| 02/04/22 | 2-1 (L) |
| 12/12/20 | 0-1 (W) |
As a result, the claret and blue faithful will be hugely pleased to learn that their side have made a move to scupper their nearby foes ahead of the new campaign.
This comes after the Sunday Mirror reported (10 August, page 71) that Pereira had been eyeing a deal to sign Evann Guessand for £31.3million from OGC Nice this summer.
With the Ivory Coast international having signed for the Villans now, the Black Country club have instead been forced into looking at other targets.
Now, Wolves have made an opening bid of £21.65m for Matthis Abline at Paris FC, but have been told they must pay £43.3m to land his signature.
- Read more: Gabby Agbonlahor reacts to Guessand signing
Guessand makes right decision at Aston Villa
There is no getting away from the fact that a move to Villa Park is a much more appealing prospect right now for incoming players.
The opportunity to play in the Europa League under the guise of Emery has to be more attractive than a potential relegation or mid-table battle at Molineux.
With that in mind, it is truly little surprise that Guessand would opt to join Villa ahead of Wolves this summer.
The addition of the 24-year-old has certainly gone down well with supporters in B6 who are keen to see more of the six-foot-two forward this campaign.
Having already made his debut in pre-season against Marseille, the new man can look forward to a first league outing in claret and blue next week against Newcastle.
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