Alberto Moreno won’t be staying in the Premier League with Aston Villa as reports claim he is returning to La Liga with Villarreal instead.
Aston Villa expressed an interest in signing Alberto Moreno with his Liverpool contract expiring this summer, according to ESPN.
Dean Smith’s side have spent around £70 million already since sealing their return back to the Premier League in May, shattering their transfer record twice in deals for striker Wesley Moraes and former loanee Tyrone Mings.
Moreno, however, wouldn’t have taken a penny out of the transfer budget. After spending most of the last two seasons on the bench, the Spanish left-back bid an emotional farewell to Liverpool when his contract expired at the end of June.
According to ESPN, however, the one-time £12 million man is instead set to return to La Liga with Villarreal, five years after he left Sevilla for Merseyside.
But is this a missed opportunity for Aston Villa or merely a bullet dodged?
As most Liverpool fans will tell you, there is a reason why Moreno was trusted to start just two Premier League games last season. Moreno at his best is a hugely exciting full-back, a one-man steam train of a player who loves nothing more than bombing on and creating chances in the final third.
At this worst, however, he is an absolute liability, an accident waiting to happen who cost Liverpool dear in the Europa League and EFL Cup finals in 2016.
Instead, Aston Villa have spent an initial £11 million to sign Matt Targett from Southampton (the Mail) and the former England U21 ace should at least offer more defensive discipline than Moreno, even if he doesn’t quite have the same pace or attacking intent.
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