Aston Villa are looking to bolster their defensive options by signing Chelsea’s Axel Disasi in the final days of the transfer window, but a move for Joao Felix appears more complicated at this stage.
Unai Emery is keen to bring in a centre-back before the deadline after Tyrone Mings’s injury woes continued, with the defender forced off in the weekend’s draw with West Ham.
Disasi is out of favour at Stamford Bridge and the Blues are open to letting him leave the club this month. Relegation-threatened Wolves are also keen, while there has been interest from several European clubs.
The Frenchman has made only four league starts this season, with two of those coming when Enzo Maresca has heavily rotated his side against newly-promoted sides in Ipswich and Southampton.
The 26-year-old can play at centre-back and right-back, but even amid Chelsea’s injury worries in the former position has been overlooked in favour of Trevor Chalobah, who was recalled from his loan at Crystal Palace earlier this month.
Villa also have interest in Felix, who has struggled to make an impact since returning for his second spell at the Bridge this summer.
The Portuguese is stuck behind Cole Palmer in his preferred position at No10 and has not scored a league goal since August.
However, the Blues would want a significant fee for a player they paid around £45million to sign from Atletico Madrid.
Villa would likely have trouble funding that kind of deal without selling first. Striker Jhon Duran appears the club’s most saleable asset but it remains to be seen whether any suitors would meet Villa’s valuation this month, with West Ham having seen a reported £57m bid knocked back last week.
Chelsea may themselves have to add to their attacking options if Felix were to leave, particularly given Mykhailo Mudryk is still provisionally suspended after failing a drugs test and a heavy fixture list awaits through to the Club World Cup in the summer.
The Blues have previously been linked with Duran and are interested in Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho.
