Aston Villa are looking to build on an exceptional start to the campaign in January while also keeping one eye on the future.
HITC Football understands that Aston Villa are now in advanced talks with Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade to sign teenage full-back Kosta Nedeljkovic.
The 18-year-old has been tracked by a host of clubs but president of football operations Monchi has moved quickly to secure a deal.
It’s understood that Aston Villa have agreed a deal worth around £8m for the teenager and only the finer details now need to be resolved.
As part of the deal, Villa would allow Nedeljkovic to remain at Red Star on loan until the end of the season.
Aston Villa in advanced talks with Nedeljkovic
The January transfer window has been exceptionally quiet up to this point in the Premier League.
Radu Dragusin is still the only permanent signing made by a top-flight English club after arriving at Tottenham.
Aston Villa have interest in several players this month, with HITC Football understanding that they’re currently keeping tabs on Norwich City attacker Jonathan Rowe.
We also believe that they were interested in Lille defender Tiago Djalo but he has agreed a move to Juventus.
It means that Unai Emery is likely to be heading into the rest of the campaign with the squad currently at his disposal.
It’s worked for him so far, but there are a couple of areas that he might want to strengthen going forward.
While Villa might be in advanced talks with Nedeljkovic, he won’t be an immediate option for Emery.
The Serbian is very much a player for the future although he has plenty of experience at the very highest level already.
Nedeljkovic showed his potential in the Champions League
Kosta Nedeljkovic, who was only born in 2005, made his debut for Red Star Belgrade before his 18th birthday last season.
He started the campaign playing in the UEFA Youth League but was quickly promoted to the senior side this season.
Alongside his 12 appearances in the Serbian top flight, he made four appearances in the Champions League, including starting against Manchester City last month.
In that match, he was up against Jack Grealish on the wing and the 18-year-old arguably came out on top.
During his 78-minute performance, Nedeljkovic won three out of his five duels, only misplaced two passes and completed 100% of his dribbles.
Not only that, the tricky Grealish only managed to dribble past him once before being taken off at half-time.
Villa looking to the future by signing Nedeljkovic
Monchi will hope to conclude talks with Red Bull Belgrade to sign Nedeljkovic sooner rather than later for Aston Villa.
It’s very rare to find a teenage full-back who already has experience playing against some of Europe’s best teams.
Nedeljkovic tends to stick to the touchline and bomb forward whenever given the opportunity, averaging a key pass per game right now.
That’s double the number Matty Cash is delivering this season in the league although the Polish international is playing in a much tougher league.
Villa’s squad is in a very strong position right now and it makes perfect sense to start looking to the future in the transfer market.
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