Aston Villa are hoping to be successful in their pursuit of one player who excelled at Euro 2024.
Unai Emery and Monchi have already welcomed five new faces to Villa Park this summer, with more arrivals expected to come.
Aston Villa are preparing for a crucial 2024/25 campaign, where the Midlands club will compete among Europe’s elite in the Champions League.
With Ian Maatsen, Lewis Dobbin, Samuel Iling-Junior, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley already on board, it looks as though the Villans are now gunning to acquire their next target.
Aston Villa make contact over transfer target Jaka Bijol
Having added one defender so far in the form of Maatsen, it appears that Emery and Monchi are on the hunt for a new centre-back.
Reports in Italy via TuttoMercatoWeb suggest that Aston Villa have made contact in regard to the availability of Udinese defender Jaka Bijol.
The centre-back, who is in demand as a result of his commanding presence at Euro 2024, is said to have ‘been explored’ by Inter Milan, Lazio and Napoli in Italy, with Villa also eyeing the 25-year-old.
TuttoMercatoWeb claims that despite interest from within Serie A, ‘the most concrete’ approach comes from Villa ‘in the last few hours’ – as reported on July 2nd.
It’s added that Villa could continue to shop in Italy after acquiring Iling-Junior and Barrenechea from Juventus, with a swoop for Bijol looking to be a smart move at this time.
Harry Kane struggled against Villa target Bijol at Euro 2024
Unfortunately for the dominating defender, his Euro 2024 journey has come to an end, however, his impact at the tournament will live long throughout the summer.
This week, the Slovenian was dubbed ‘outstanding’ by Martin Keown for his performance against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, with a similar level of display shown against England.
In the group stage, England drew 0-0 with Slovenia, a fixture that the Villa target played 90 minutes of, keeping Harry Kane’s threat at bay.
As per Sofascore, Kane was limited to just one shot on target during the game, seeing three of his shots blocked as Bijol stood out as his country’s rock at the back.
Upon his exit from the tournament, journalist Zach Lowy praised the 25-year-old’s consistency, calling him ‘impeccable’ for his approach in defence.
It would be an interesting purchase for Villa to make, with Bijol reported to sport a price tag in the region of €20m by Udinese, who are aware of interest in the centre-back.
Given that Villa are said to have made the most significant approach for the Slovenian so far, Monchi must continue to push for his target, who captured the eye of many on the international stage.
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