Aston Villa have been very active in the summer transfer window already after recruiting Brazilian centre-back Diego Carlos from Sevilla last month but now there could be another new face through the door.
Carlos follows Boubacar Kamara to Villa Park after the Frenchman joined after leaving Marseille on a free transfer. Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen have also signed permanent contracts after their respective loan spells.
Steven Gerrard is reportedly still keen to acquire a left-sided defender and is also in the market for a central midfielder and possibly a striker to add to his attacking threats of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins ahead of the 2022-23 Premier League season. Mirror Sport rounds up all the latest Villa transfer news and rumours.
Rangers wonderkid move
Villa are closing in on the £300,000 signing of Rangers ‘wonderkid’ Rory Wilson according to the Express and Star. The 16-year-old scored 49 goals for the Scottish club’s youth team last season and talks over a deal which would see him move south of the border remain in progress. Rangers would be due just a £300,000 development fee for Wilson, who recently confirmed he expects to leave this summer. Liverpool and Manchester United have also been linked with the youngster.
Villa have been recruiting aggressively for their academy since the 2018 takeover by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, with left-back Ben Chrisene and centre-back Josh Feeney among several starlets signed for fees. Tim Iroegbunam, the 18-year-old midfielder who joined from Albion last summer, made three Premier League appearances and penned a new long-term contract after establishing himself in Gerrard’s first-team squad.
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Toon aim for Targett
Newcastle are looking to close a deal for left-back Matt Targett according the Daily Mail. Talks took place on Tuesday with Newcastle looking to take up the option of signing the 26-year-old following his impressive loan spell with a fee of £12million reported to be wanted to wrap up the transfer. Fulham, where Targett had a successful loan in 2018, had also shown an interest but the Magpies are expected to get their man after the defender helped their fortunes improve after arriving in the January window.
He signed along with Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier as Newcastle climbed away from the relegation places, and eventually finished 11th. Targett missed just one league game following his loan, against Aston Villa, as he could not play against his parent club. The left-back completed 90 minutes on every other occasion in the league for the Magpies. But he is not expected to be part of Villa's plans after they signed Lucas Digne in January.
Bissouma chase over
Aston Villa have reportedly moved on’ from their pursuit of Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma according to Gregg Evans of the The Athletic. Gerrard has already signed holding midfielder Kamara but the Villa boss has still been touted to further strengthen his midfield options. Brighton’s Bissouma has been regularly linked with a move to Villa Park, with the club even having an offer turned down for the Mali international in January.
The 25-year-old has just 12 months remaining on his contract and the Seagulls are expected to cash in on the midfielder this summer. But other clubs like Monaco and Arsenal are believed to be ahead of Villa for the midfielder's services and it has reportedly seen Villa end their interest.
