Lewis Dobbin is set to join Championship outfit Southampton in a £9 million deal, two years after joining Aston Villa from Everton
According to Ben Jacobs, Southampton have won the race to sign Lewis Dobbin from Aston Villa in a £9 million deal plus add-ons. The promising attacker joined Aston Villa in a £10 million deal back in 2024 from Everton, but he never got the chance to feature for the first team.
Two years on from that move, Dobbin is now set to leave Aston Villa after failing to establish himself in the first-team squad under Unai Emery. The 23-year-old winger had a productive loan spell with Preston North End in the EFL Championship last season, scoring 10 goals and providing 8 assists in 39 league appearances.
His goal-and-assist return over a full Championship season underscored his marketability in the division, and it caught the attention of several clubs including Middlesbrough.
Southampton’s spying scandal during the play-off build-up complicated their path, but they have now emerged as the frontrunners for Dobbin’s signature. The club spied on Middlesbrough training sessions on three occasions last season, a breach that saw them disqualified from the Championship final. Hull City went on to beat Middlesbrough, relegating both sides to another season in the second tier.
Aston Villa facing key departures
Monday has been difficult for Aston Villa on the transfer front. First, Manchester United triggered a £35 million release clause in Youri Tielemans’s contract, as David Ornstein confirmed, with the Belgian set to join Old Trafford.
Fabrizio Romano then reported that PSG had triggered a release clause in Lucas Digne’s contract to bring the France international to Paris. These departures compound Villa’s transfer headaches as they also face Arsenal interest in Morgan Rogers, with the England international reportedly keen on a move to the Emirates.
All eyes will now be on Villa and how they address the issues caused by these departures, as losing players like Tielemans and Digne would be huge blows to their first-team plans. If they also end up selling Rogers, their fans will demand a significant transfer window to replace those departed stars or risk an underwhelming season ahead.
