Aston Villa will soon turn their attention to the summer transfer window, with one player identified as a potential target for Unai Emery and Monchi.
After ending the 2023/24 Premier League campaign in fourth place, Aston Villa will be eager to move strongly once more this summer.
The Villans will be playing in the Champions League next season and will need the squad to match, giving Unai Emery and Monchi the task of recruiting smartly in the transfer window.
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Securing a place amongst Europe’s elite could be fundamental to the Villa’s hopes of acquiring top-class talent in the market, with the need to play in the Champions League a requirement to lure the best to Villa Park.
Now that the season has ended, Emery and Monchi will have work to do to strengthen the squad at Villa, with one target now identified as a player the Spanish duo admire.
Aston Villa are interested in Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo
A report from Spanish outlet Sport has detailed that Villa ‘want’ to sign a top-level centre-back, with Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo highlighted as a potential target.
It’s explained that Monchi and Emery were present at a fixture in Barcelona where amicable discussions were had around transfer scenarios, with Araujo being the player who ‘focused most of the interest’.
The Villa duo are claimed to have ‘noted their desire’ to present a formal proposal to the 25-year-old, with Barcelona said to want a fee in the region of €80m (£68m) for his services.
While the Villans are keen on signing the Uruguyan, Sport explains that Villa won’t, ‘in any case’, offer a price as high as Barcelona’s valuation.
The problem is that Villa are eager to offload £100k-a-week earner Diego Carlos before making a move for a new centre-back, in this case, Araujo.
Finances must be balanced in order for the Midlands club to conduct business this summer, with offloading the former Sevilla defender now speculated to be a necessity.
Ronald Araujo would be the perfect Unai Emery signing
It was seen throughout the 2023/24 campaign just how strong of a signing Pau Torres was for Emery’s side last summer, with Araujo having the quality to offer a similar playing style and calibre.
In La Liga, there aren’t many players as progressively strong as the 25-year-old, who was named in La Liga’s team of the season for his campaign with the Catalan giants.
As per FBref, Araujo ranks in the top 3% of centre-backs in the Spanish top flight for his average progressive carrying distance of 169.00, hinting at what he could offer to Emery’s Villa side.
When reviewing Villa’s style of play under the Spaniard, a lot of emphasis is placed on having the capacity to build passages of play from the back, something that the Barcelona star could support if a move was made.
It will be interesting to see how the scenario pans out, with Monchi and Emery both seemingly set on the prospect of acquiring the Uruguay international’s signature.
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