Aston Villa named as 'huge' bid submitted to sign Ernest Muci as Bestikas president speaks out
Besiktas president Hasam Arat has claimed that he has rejected a £17.1m bid for Ernest Muci and named Aston Villa as an interested club.
Writing on their website (4 April) Turkish outlet Fanatik report that the Istanbul club's chief has spoken out about rejecting an offer for the Albanian number ten.
They then name Aston Villa as the club who have made the move for the 23-year-old forward, although there was no confirmation that it was them who made the bid.
“A club from Europe made an offer of €20million (£17.1m) for Ernest Muci, but I rejected the offer," he said.
"He is a player with great potential and we want him to stay with us next season."
Aston Villa in the market for reinforcements?
The summer transfer window is going to be a very interesting one for the Villans because of how well the team has done this year.
If Unai Emery is able to get the team into the Champions League next season then there is no doubt that new players will need to come in to strengthen the depth of the squad, and especially in the attacking areas of the squad.
The team have relied heavily upon Ollie Watkins this season, with Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby chipping in too, while Jhon Duran impressed during the defeat to Man City. But ultimately there isn't a lot of depth in the squad for Emery to be able to rotate and keep things fresh.
Muci is a talented young star who has shone in Turkey so far, but the step to the Premier League would be a big one and something that must be looked into carefully before splashing the cash.
With FFP restrictions making it difficult this summer, Villa can't afford to get any signings wrong and this will be a deal to keep an eye on over the coming months.
In other Aston Villa news, Lee Hendrie praised one Villa star after he “ruffled some feathers” versus Man City.
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