Premier League big-spenders Aston Villa reportedly offered £6.35m for Angers’ Ligue 1 midfielder Santamaria this week.
Baptiste Santamaria might be famed for his ball-winning ability but that doesn’t mean he can’t make the difference in the final third too.
According to L’Equipe, Aston Villa made a £6.35 million bid this week for the highly-rated Angers midfielder. And, as supporters of Arsenal will no doubt attest, there is more to him than meets the eye.
An average of 3.1 tackles and 1.6 interceptions in Ligue 1 last season paint a picture of Santamaria as an ankle-biting terrier of a player. But there’s a touch of class about this swiss-army knife of a midfielder.
Santamaria certainly made his mark in Angers’ 1-1 pre-season draw against the giants of Arsenal on Wednesday. Farid El Melali might have scored the only goal of the game for the hosts but his task was made so simple by a perfectly weighted pass from the Aston Villa target.
Santamaria picked up the ball deep in midfield, drove forward and pierced the Arsenal defence with a perfectly weighted through ball. His right-foot is not just a power tool, it’s a paintbrush too.
Unfortunately, his stand-out display against Unai Emery’s Gunners has probably come a little too late.
Since that £6.35 million bid was batted away, Aston Villa turned their full focus on Marvelous Nakamba instead, signing the Zimbabwe international on Thursday afternoon. This comes just a few days after Douglas Luiz arrived too from Manchester City.
Aston Villa might have spent big and often this summer but there is clear thinking behind each and every one of their signings. Buying a third defensive midfielder in the space of a few days would seem unnecessarily excessive.
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