The Aston Villa supporters will have to be patient as they wait to see two of Unai Emery’s new signings in action.
While the likes of Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen have made a flying start to life at the Premier League outfit – the former scoring four minutes into his debut at West Ham United and the latter setting up Jhon Duran’s late winner – a couple of other new faces will bide their time.
Samuel Iling-Junior returned to Serie A this week. The former Juventus whizzkid will spend 2024/25 on loan at Bologna.
And the other player who moved to Villa Park as part of the deal which took Douglas Luiz to Turin – Enzo Barrenechea – is also a candidate to leave on loan.
Presumably, Emery does not feel as if Barrenechea can be guaranteed regular game time up against Onana, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey, Ross Barkley, Youri Tielemans and the returning Boubacar Kamara.
And perhaps fearing that the 23-year-old’s development would be stunted by a season spent on the sidelines, Aston Villa opened up discussions about short-term switch to La Liga.
Aston Villa and Valencia talks collapse over Enzo Barrenechea
Valencia had hoped to bring in Barrenechea for the season.
But those talks have now broken down, sporting director Miguel Angel Corona confirming in the build up to Wednesday’s clash with Athletic Bilbao that Valencia are ready to shift their focus to a ‘alternative’ targets.
“At the moment, the operation is not going well,” Corona tells DAZN. “I can’t give arguments (as to why). We always have alternatives to the market.
“(We are also satisfied) with a squad of twenty players, and we already have that. From there, I don’t know what can happen in two days, because the last hours (of the window) are hectic.”
Barrenechea, an £18 million signing and a ‘beautiful player to watch‘ according to one of the Argentine’s many admirers, may now be proposed to a number of other clubs with a space in their squad for a talented, aggressive young midfielder.
Corona was far more positive about the deal Valencia struck with Liverpool regarding £29.5 million goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Liverpool sign Giorgi Mamardashvili but loan him back to La Liga
Liverpool confirmed on Tuesday that Mamardashvili had become the first big-money signing of the Arne Slot era, with Juventus’ Federico Chiesa likely to follow pretty quickly in his footsteps.
The 6ft 6ins Georgia international – ‘outstanding‘ at this summer’s European Championships – will spend the minimum of one season back at the Mestalla on loan with Liverpool happy to let him hone his talents away from Anfield while Alisson Becker is still going strong.
HITC understands that Mamardashvili was offered to Bournemouth. He turned down The Cherries in favour of Valencia, however, with Andoni Iraola’s side now turning to Chelsea misfit Kepa Arrizabalaga.
“It is a fantastic agreement because it involves two variants; the economic one because we needed to balance our books and, at the same time, we do not interfere with the team’s performance,” smiles Corona.
“The player has also put his desire first. That is a sign that he is very comfortable with us, happy, and involved in this season’s project.”
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