Matty Cash could have his days as Aston Villa’s starting right-back numbered after the club qualified for the Champions League.
The 26-year-old has made decent progress in the three seasons since he joined the club for £16 million from Nottingham Forest in 2020, but there are question marks over his ability to make the step up to the Champions League.
In the last few weeks of the season Cash was badly out of form and this appears to have expedited Aston Villa‘s plans to sign a new right-back, with links to the likes of Denzel Dumfries and Jeremie Frimpong.
However, with Villa needing to be careful not to break financial rules, manager Unai Emery could be better off casting his eye over a young player already at the club to replace Cash this pre-season.
Unai Emery has Matty Cash replacement with Champions League experience
Villa may well have already signed their long-term Cash replacement in one of the most under the radar January transfers of the window.
Villa moved swiftly to sign 18-year-old full-back Kosta Nedeljkovic from Serbian side Red Star Begrade for a fee reported to be around the £8 million mark.
As part of the deal it was agreed that Nedljkovic would return to the club on loan for the second half of the season as Villa utilised both Cash and Ezri Konsa in the right-back position.
Whilst Nedeljkovic is very inexperienced, having only made 42 senior appearances in his short career so far, he does boast Champions League experience as he made four appearances in the competition this season.
The Serb has enormous potential, hence why Villa’s president of football operations, Monchi, acted so decisively to secure his long-term future, and perhaps Emery should cast his eye over the player in pre-season to see if he could make the step up and save the club a lot of money.
Kosta Nedeljkovic ‘extremely impressive’ despite being so young
Red Star failed to see the benefit of the return of Nedeljkovic on loan in January as an injury he sustained meant he did not feature again after signing for Villa.
Despite that, the full-back, who has also played at both centre-back and right midfield, made 25 appearances in all competitions in the 2023/24 season and provided two assists according to Transfermarkt.
Villa fans will be keen to see their winter signing given an opportunity to make the right-back position his own in pre-season and Serbian football expert Aleksandar Milic told Transfermarkt what they can expect from Nedeljkovic.
Milic said: “He has enormous potential as a physical athlete. His acceleration is extremely impressive for a player his size, has great pace without the ball and likes to play physically with plenty of contact. He can repeatedly run at high intensity for 90 minutes.”
Whilst it may not be the marquee signing Villa fans want this summer, Nedeljkovic could offer the club a solution that allows them to spend money on other targets given the FFP pressures they are under.
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