Premier League strugglers Aston Villa signed Borja Baston from Swansea City in January but will he return to La Liga with Real Zaragoza?
Aston Villa striker Borja Baston has been offered a four-year deal to return to former club Real Zaragoza but his £30,000-a-week wages represent a sizeable obstacle, according to Sport Aragon.
If Baston felt like a short-term quick fix when he joined Dean Smith’s Premier League strugglers from Swansea City on the final day of the January transfer window, that’s probably because he was.
The Spanish centre-forward was only handed a six-month deal until the end of the season and it already looks like his spell in claret and blue will be a short one.
Reports back home suggest that Baston is in talks over a move back to a club where he enjoyed the best season of his career in 2014/15, hitting the net 22 times in 38 league matches.
The former Atletico Madrid and Eibar striker has been offered a contract with Zaragoza until the summer of 2024, with manager Victor Fernandez giving the green light for a summer deal to be finalised.
But it seems that Baston will only make an emotional return to Zaragoza on one condition. Put simply, Los Blanquillos need promotion if they are to finance a deal for the 27-year-old club hero.
Baston earns £30,000-a-week at Aston Villa and such a sizeable pay packet would be inconceivable if Zaragoza are still playing second-tier football in 2020/21.
Fortunately, Zaragoza are second in the Segunda table as it stands, five points clear of big-spending Almeria in the final automatic promotion position. Everything looks positive at the moment.
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