Aston Villa are hoping to bring Leonardo Ulloa back to the Championship and Leicester City’s Ligue 2 raid could pave the way for his January move.
According to The Sun (11th January, page 50), Leicester City had their reservations about letting Leonardo Ulloa leave on loan for Aston Villa this month.
It was understood that the Foxes were concerned about being a little short of options in attack, particularly if Islam Slimani completed an expected move away from the King Power Stadium with the likes of Newcastle United and Watford keen.
But Leicester have since pulled off a £4.4 million deal to sign Fousseni Diabate from Gazelec Ajaccio, as reported by the Daily Mail, which could put Villa one step closer to bringing Ulloa to the Midlands.
After all, even if Slimani does leave now, Leicester have Diabate in their ranks, which means that there is surely no reason now for the club to keep Ulloa around as back-up.
The Telegraph stated last week that Villa boss Steve Bruce had made the Argentine one of his primary targets during the January transfer window as he aims to fill the void left by the injury-enforced departure of last season’s 19-goal top scorer Jonathan Kodjia.
Keinan Davis, Scott Hogan and the forgotten man Gabby Agbonlahor have not exactly scored prolifically in Kodjia’s absence. And Ulloa knows what it takes to succeed at this level, having notched 23 goals in 50 league games for Brighton between 2010 and 2012.
Villa, however, could only sign Ulloa on loan due to Financial Fair Play restrictions. Although Leicester’s signing of Diabate means that deal is surely now more realistic than ever.
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