Unai Emery is certainly wasting no time putting his stamp on this rather disjointed, Frankenstein-esque Aston Villa squad.
Last week, Frederic Guilbert – a man who had not made a Premier League appearance since the final game of 2019/20 – returned to France with former employers Strasbourg, his contract terminated by mutual consent. Morgan Sanson could soon be joining his fellow claret-and-blue misfit on the German border.
Emery admitted, before Saturday’s hard-fought 1-0 win at Southampton, that offers for Marvelous Nakamba would be considered too. And with Alex Moreno becoming the first signing of the Emery era – joining in a £13 million deal from Real Betis – Ludwig Augustinsson is another who could be packing his bags in the final week of the window.
“I spoke with Augustinsson about the possibility to leave,” Emery tells the Birmingham Mail; indicating that Moreno was brought in to add more attacking thrust on the flanks.
“I wanted to sign a different profile, trying to be more offensive. Alex Moreno is the player we were focused (on) to try to add for the squad. I spoke with him (Augustinsson). The idea is to try to leave and get another option to play.”
Aston Villa exit could be good news for Wolverhampton Wanderers
Augustinsson, capped 50 times by Sweden, only arrived at Villa Park six months ago on loan from Sevilla. His immediate future remains uncertain. Though a return to parent club Sevilla appears likely after the La Liga strugglers lost Alex Telles to a long-term knee injury.
An injury which appeared to have wrecked Wolves’ hopes of reuniting Julen Lopetegui with Argentina’s World Cup winner Marcos Acuna at Molineux (Marca). Sevilla were willing to sell the £12 million-rated Acuna heading into the window; removing the former Sporting Lisbon flyer from the transfer list only after Telles was ruled out for the foreseeable future.
“We are opening up different options,” Lopetegui said in December. “Because the reality is that we have to reinforce the team in different positions. (Acuna) is a player that I like. But we will see what happens.”
Presuming that a left-back remains a priority at Wolves – Hugo Bueno has been outstanding since forcing his way into the XI but doubts remain about Rayan Ait-Nouri’s future while Jonny Otto’s form leaves a lot to be desired – Wolves’ interest in Acuna could still be revisited between now and February 1st.
And with fellow left-back Augustinsson on his way back to Seville from Villa Park, Wolves might just have been handed an unexpected leg-up from an unexpected source.
“With the problems we have had, the idea is to find a left-sided defender,” Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli explains. “We only have Acuna, who is going to have to play because the numerical issue forces us.”
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