The latest Aston Villa transfer news and rumour from B6. With Keinan Davis expected to undergo a medical at Nottingham Forest today, Marvelous Nakamba out for up to 16 weeks and Trezeguet/Traore having travelled to AFCON, it’s no surprise Villa are considering reinforcements.
HAUSE : WATFORD
Embed from Getty ImagesKortney Hause, who can play either left centre-back or left back, has been linked with a move to Claudio Ranieri’s Watford.
Hause’s game-time has been limited at Villa Park this term and is in his final season of a 3 year deal having joined from Wolves in 2019.
Hause has been a relatively reliable back-up for Villa, but is firmly behind England international Tyrone Mings and consistent Ezri Konsa in terms of the defensive pecking order. There is also competition from Manchester United loanee Axel Tuanzebe, although it remains unclear if the Old Trafford defender will remain at Villa Park beyond January amidst interest from other clubs.
It’s not been a quiet period generally for Hause, who scored Villa’s winner against United earlier this season. He also managed to crash his £180k supercar in Aston, as well as revealing a kidnapping attempt upon him on Boxing Day 3 years ago.
In any event, the link with a move to Vicarage Road appears speculative at this point, with limited information in the way of credible sources. With that said, Hause is now at the stage of his career where playing time is a priority. Despite his importance in Villa’s squad, it remains to be seen whether the defender will settle for the majority of his time being spent sat on the bench.
WATKINS ARSENAL WAFFLE
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother tenuous link is that reported today of Mikel Arteta’s interest in Ollie Watkins.
Whilst it appears to be the end of the road for Aubameyang at Arsenal, it seems premature and ambitious to suggest that Watkin’s is on the move. Wider coverage suggests that whilst a transfer in the forthcoming January window isn’t on the cards, that Arteta might feasibly solidify his interest next summer.
Watkins is off the radar of many opposition supporters, but it was perhaps inevitable that other Premier League managers would in time take note. Villa’s £33m signing from Brentford is (in this blogs view at least) vastly under-rated on a number of fronts.
Whilst Watkin’s hasn’t necessarily had things all his way during Villa’s stop-start season, the goals have now started to come and few could fault his hold-up play. Indeed, Watkin’s has assimilated to top-flight football convincingly since his arrival, a fact reinforced by his inclusion in Garath Southgate’s England squads (including a debut goal).
TUANZEBE TUSSLE
It appears that Villa might have a fight on their hands to retain Axel Tuanzebe on loan. We reported yesterday on Serie A side Napoli’s interest in the Manchester United defender who has been used sparingly since returning last summer.
In Steven Gerrard’s pre-match conference ahead of Villa’s away trip to Brentford, he confirmed his desire for Tuanzebe to stay. Ominously Gerrard also alluded United’s right to recall the defender and that ultimately this would boil down to a decision for the player himself.
Ironically given the transfer speculation, both Tuanzebe and Hause will be battling for a recall with Tyrone Mings suspended for the trip to London this Sunday.
OTHER TRANSFER NEWS
Villa are also linked with Bologna full-back Aaron Hickey – for that and other news and rumours – check out our dedicated Transfer Page.
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