Aston Villa now have a link with Vitoria Guimaraes – and that could throw a spanner in the works for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal as they chase Ibrahima Bamba.
Villa confirmed earlier this week that the club’s holding company V Sports have agreed to purchase 46 per cent of Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes.
Villa, Vitoria… we’re starting to think V Sports genuinely means buying into clubs with V names!
The announcement states that ‘V Sports aims to create a synergy amongst clubs’, meaning we can expect to see Villa and Vitoria working together.
We have seen this plenty of times before in other multi-club setups, like Manchester City’s various sister clubs or the Red Bull group.
That means Villa may well have access to signing some of Vitoria’s top talent moving forward.
Whether Vitoria can consistently develop talent suitable for the Premier League remains to be seen, but one player stands out already.
Aston Villa can throw spanner in the works as Arsenal target Ibrahima Bamba
Vitoria midfielder Ibrahima Bamba has been earning rave reviews – and some interest from Villa’s Premier League rivals Arsenal.
The Mirror claimed in November that Arsenal were looking to secure Bamba’s signature as a midfield prospect for the future.
Reports from Portugal close to deadline day suggested that Arsenal were leading the race for Bamba.
No deal materialised though and Bamba – who has a £26million release clause – has stayed with Vitoria.
Bamba, 20, is a combative defensive midfielder whose potential has already been spotted by the Italian national team setup.
Arsenal appear to have Bamba on their wish list as one for the future but Villa can cause real problems here.
If Villa fancy signing a midfielder themselves, they may be able to strike a deal for Bamba thanks to the links between themselves and Vitoria.
That’s what Bournemouth did for Dango Ouattara in January after owner Bill Foley purchased Lorient.
We’re seeing more and more of these deals and Villa going for Bamba could make sense as a talent for the future.
Even if V Sports don’t want to bolster one of Villa’s Premier League rivals, they may look to send Bamba elsewhere.
Arsenal will keep chasing Bamba, but this new link between Villa and Vitoria is something that may cause problems for the Gunners.
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