After Maatsen: Aston Villa plotting swoop for 8m Digne upgrade
After Maatsen: Aston Villa plotting swoop for 8m Digne upgrade
Aston Villa have successfully circumvented breaking Premier League profit and sustainability (PSR) rules and now look set to to bolster their Champions League-qualified squad.
Of course, Unai Emery and Monchi haven't exactly been shiftless over these recent weeks, with moves made to sign Ross Barkley and Chelsea's Ian Maatsen. Moreover, the regrettable sale of Douglas Luiz to Juventus, to counter PSR, included the signing of Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior in the opposite direction.
Villa will look to send some deadweight packing this summer and this could include either or both left-backs Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno, but Maatsen would need some support and an experienced head has been lined up.
Aston Villa transfer news
According to Spanish sources, Aston Villa are set to tussle with Manchester United for the signing of Reinildo Mandava, who has one year remaining on his contract with Atletico Madrid.
The versatile defender, aged 30, has displayed remarkable powers of recovery to return from an ACL injury suffered at the start of 2023, playing a starring role in Diego Simeone's side's exploits over the past several months.
The Mozambique international could be available for just £8m, with his robust style of play making him the perfect player to add depth and dynamism to the Villa Park backline.
Why Villa are interested in Reinaldo
The Athletic's David Ornstein might have allayed fears of a points deduction or detrimental restrictions on spending after the shrewd business of recent weeks, but Villa are certainly not out of the woods.
Digne, for example, is being considered for a transfer away, one of the club's highest earners and probably going to be replaced as the No. 1 left-back by Maatsen.
Reinildo, despite missing the first half of the 2023/24 campaign, indeed impressed with his athleticism and sharp defensive involvements, ranking among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions, the top 1% for tackles and successful take-ons and the top 8% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.
Furthermore, the 30-year-old won 66% of his ground duels in La Liga last term. Digne, in comparison, won only 53% of his contested ground duels.
Reinildo is a true "gladiator" - as has been said by talent scout Jacek Kulig - and would offer the kind of dynamic alternative to a player like Maatsen, whose tactical flexibility and high-level technical quality marks him as the first choice, though he too is perhaps not quite so formidable in the tackle, winning only 50% of his ground duels last season while on loan from Chelsea at Borussia Dortmund.
Having showcased himself to be a dynamic and capable defender with impressive creativity and a combative sheen, Reinildo would be an absolute bargain at £8m, and given Digne's exorbitant wage and stuttering form, it might be wise to ship the Frenchman on.
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