Aston Villa are considering a £55 million January deal while Manchester City and Liverpool are on high alert.
The preparations for Aston Villa’s winter transfer window are beginning to emerge, and there may be a reunion between Unai Emery and one of his previous players.
Aston Villa are one of several Premier League clubs reportedly interested in signing Villarreal attacker Alex Baena.
According to reports in Spain, specifically the publication Fichajes, Villa, along with some of its league rivals, are considering a transfer for Baena, who currently plays for Unai Emery’s former team. The 22-year-old signed a five-year contract with the La Liga club in January, and as a result, the release clause has been lifted from €25 million to €60 million, which is around £55 million.
Back in September 2022, it was claimed that Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal were all interested in Baena, who can play everywhere on the front line. He is mostly an attacking midfielder, but he can also play on the left flank and has experience as a central midfielder and a center forward.
This season, Baena has made four appearances for the Yellow Submarine, contributing two assists and one goal. To date, the 13-time Spain Under-21 international has seven goals and five assists in La Liga, as well as appearances in the Europa Conference and Europa Conference League. He has been on international duty with Spain this week, but was an unused replacement in their 7-1 triumph against Georgia.
He’ll have been with former teammate Pau Torres, who moved to Villa Park from Villarreal earlier this summer for an estimated £31.5 million. Torres is the only player who has joined Villa directly from Emery’s former club Villarreal since the Spaniard was appointed head coach in October 2022.
Villarreal recently changed managers, with Quique Setien being fired after a dismal run of form and replaced with 55-year-old Pacheta. Setien took over for Emery after he returned to England last year, and Baena had previously supported Emery’s choice to join Villa.
“It was a professional decision, which everyone may not understand, but those of us who are a part of this can understand it,” Baena told Marca in November 2022.
“Emotionally, it left us a little shaken because we already had the work done, from many years together… it was a bit hard to resume everything with a new coach, a new system, and a new game mentality.”
