Unai Emery and Monchi’s transfer priority has now become clear with the future of one Aston Villa star now revealed.
After steering Aston Villa to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, Unai Emery will be eager to bolster his squad in preparation for next season’s Champions League involvement.
The Spaniard has taken the Villans on quite the journey since his arrival in 2022, with things only looking to get better as the manager put pen to paper on a five-year contract extension.
While the achievements of the 2023/24 campaign will be celebrated, Emery and Monchi will soon get to work on strengthening the squad to continue progression, with incomings and outgoings poised to happen over the summer.
There will be several areas that the duo will hope to improve in the transfer window, particularly after fresh reports concluded that one of Emery’s signings will not remain at Villa.
Aston Villa do not want to sign Clement Lenglet permanently
This week, it was reported by Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo that Barcelona loanee Clement Lenglet will not remain at Villa beyond this summer.
The Frenchman was signed on a season-long loan from the Catalan giants ahead of the 2023/24 season, adding depth to Emery’s defence following the injury to Tyrone Mings on the opening day.
Mundo Deportivo explained that Villa are ‘not considering’ offering a permanent deal to Lenglet at the expiration of his current contract, adding that their relationship has come to an end and the player will return to Barcelona.
The news may not come as a surprise as Lenglet almost parted ways with Villa in the January window due to lack of game time however, his season grew in the new year as fresh opportunities were presented.
That being said, the 28-year-old failed to deliver anything overly impressive during his audition in the Midlands, warranting a return back to Spain.
Aston Villa must now prioritise signing a centre-back this summer
Hailed as being ‘crucial’ to Villa’s defence alongside Pau Torres during the Premier League season by pundit Danny Murphy, Lenglet showed glimpses of his quality however, never broke the mould to become anything more than a squad player.
Parting ways with Lenglet is beneficial in the bid to lower the wage bill, with the Frenchman being Villa’s highest earner over 2023/24, picking up £150k-a-week, via Capology.
With Diego Carlos’ future also hanging in the balance due to his wage demands, Emery will surely look to prioritise a central defender this summer, as Villa’s options look scarce.
Without Lenglet and Carlos, Villa’s centre-back options are limited to Torres, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Calum Chambers, with Torres being the only certainty in the position ahead of 2024/25.
Chambers looks certain to leave, whereas Konsa is preferred at right-back to Emery and Mings is still on the road to recovery from his ACL rupture in August 2023.
Such numbers suggest that a rebuild of the position is required this summer, giving the boss and Monchi an area to now prioritise going into the window.
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