Alejandro Garnacho sitting next to Unai Emery at Bodymoor Heath
Alejandro Garnacho and Unai EmeryVilla TV

Three potential Aston Villa signings after Alejandro Garnacho ranked from most to least likely

Pete Hanson

Head of Editorial Standards & Recruitment AUTHORITY Former senior digital journalist at Stats Perform; network specialist in live data, editorial standards, and journalist recruitment. FOCUS Editorial standards, Statscore live data integration, newsroom operations, and recruitment. THE BRIEF Pete brings deep data expertise from his time at Stats Perform to oversee the network’s use of Statscore’s live data, setting the standard for how writers use it to produce original editorial content. He is also responsible for maintaining editorial standards and leading recruitment across the network.

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Aston Villa are starting to make moves in the transfer window with Alejandro Garnacho completing his switch from Chelsea.

The summer was shaping up to be a bit of a headache for Unai Emery and the Villans' fanbase.

Youri Tielemans was snaffled by Manchester United in a £35million deal earlier this month.

England ace Morgan Rogers then departed for Chelsea in a blockbuster £117m transfer to further weaken Villa's squad.

But Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes arrived to boost Villa's midfield options, with Garnacho now joining on loan from Chelsea with an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met.

Here, Villa News has looked at the three potential Villa transfers to follow Garnacho, ranked from the most to least likely.

Pervis Estupinan - most likely

Villa News has previously covered reports of Villa needing a replacement for Lucas Digne.

The 33-year-old is on the cusp of moving to Paris Saint-Germain to act as back-up to Portugal ace Nuno Mendes.

Villa were not expecting to need to replace Digne, but former Brighton full-back Pervis Estupinan looksa shoo-in to arrive.

He has struggled to nail down a regular spot at AC Milan, and would provide good competition for Ian Maatsen.

All signs point towards the Ecuador international making the move to Villa Park this summer, and this looks like a very likely transfer.

Alejandro Garnacho sitting next to Unai Emery at Bodymoor Heath
Three things still on Unai Emery's wish list at Aston Villa this transfer window

James Garner - tough but doable

One rumour that has gathered pace a little in the last few days is that Villa are eyeing Everton ace James Garner.

Garner impressed in the hearts of the Toffees midfield last season, so much so that he earned international recognition with England.

Everton's reluctance to sell will likely be a big blocker to this happening, especially given David Moyes wants to add to his midfield not lose numbers.

But Villa do have the lure of playing Champions League football next season, and Garner might see this as a big pull for his future Three Lions aspirations.

So, on the face of it, this is a really tough transfer for Villa to get done, but it does not look entirely impossible if they want to pursue it.

Nicolas Jackson - least likely

Another Chelsea player linked to Aston Villa is Nicolas Jackson.

The Senegal striker is at a bit of a crossroads after Bayern Munich opted not to take up their purchase option on the 25-year-old.

Jackson is well known to Unai Emery, who was his head coach at Villarreal, and the player is said to be open to a move to Villa Park.

But it is a seriously complicated deal, ironically because of Garnacho's move from Stamford Bridge.

Villa are unable to do another loan move because there cannot be two domestic loans signed from the same club.

Moreover, if Villa completed a permanent deal for Jackson within 45 days it would be deemed a player exchange and would cause accounting issues for both clubs.

Beyond that time period takes us outside of the transfer window, so that rules out that possibility.

In essence, if there is to be a reunion with Jackson for Emery then it looks unlikely to happen in this window in truth.

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