Unai Emery is ready to urge Aston Villa to sign Villarreal star Alex Baena in January to push for Champions League places.
According to Fichajes, Unai Emery remains interested in Alex Baena and is ready to push Aston Villa to sign the left-sided player in January. The Basque Manager wants a full push for Champions League places this season and would like his former Villarreal star in the squad.
Aston Villa have made a flying start to the season and find themselves in unchartered territory in the league table. After beating Manchester City midweek, Unai Emery’s side climbed into third spot, overtaking Pep Guardiola’s side in the process, as they prepare to take on Arsenal on Saturday night.
With Emery leading them to a healthy league position and coming into the conversation of a title challenge, the Manager wants to manage their expectations. He considers them in contention for a top-four spot rather than the Premier League title.
Hence, Emery wants proper reinforcements in January to boost their chances to achieve their targets. The Aston Villa boss had wanted a new left-sided attacking player since the summer and has had many players in sight for that position.
For instance, he may have wanted Nico Williams ahead of January after delays in his contract extension at Athletic Club. The Spaniard has since signed a new deal, which has led to Aston Villa revisiting another target in Alex Baena.
The Villarreal man has remained in Emery’s sights for some time now, with Aston Villa likely prioritising a move for the €60 million-rated Arsenal, Liverpool, and Barcelona target. The trio of top clubs are also interested in the left-sided star, but none have made headway as much as Villa in the chase.
All of those sides have seen the impressive Baena perform for Villarreal, but Unai Emery could push the boat for Aston Villa to start negotiations with Villarreal. The manager feels the €60 million-rated star could help put them into proper top-four contention.
While Baena’s release clause stands at €60 million, Villa have shown they can agree deals for less in the past. They did the same with the Pau Torres transfer over in the summer, but Villarreal will likely extract as much as possible from them this time.
