Former PSV hero Gaston Pereiro made links with Premier League giants Aston Villa public – but then moved to Serie A with Cagliari.
A move to Aston Villa never materialised in the end for Gaston Pereiro. But why, after making Villa’s interest public, did he end up in Italy instead?
The PSV Eindhoven outcast sealed a deadline-day move to Cagliari and, speaking to the club’s official website, Pereiro was at pains to point out that a Serie A switch was always his top priority, despite holding talks with the Premier League giants during a hectic transfer window.
“I told my representative that if there is a chance to stay in Europe I prefer that. He is working on an offer from Aston Villa,” the Uruguay international told Sport 890 a few weeks ago.
With Villa struggling for goals, and becoming increasingly over-reliant on the creative genius of floppy-haired skipper Jack Grealish, it doesn’t take a genius to work out why Pereiro’s availability had caught the eye in the Midlands.
Pereiro, a tall, jinking number ten with a wand of a left foot, had hit double figures for goals in each of his four Eredivisie seasons for PSV. And, with his contract set to expire in the summer, the Dutch giants were willing to sell one of Holland’s most influential attacking talents for well below his market value.
By February 1st, however, Pereiro was touching down in Sardinia after putting pen to paper on a bargain £1.7 million move to the Serie A high-flyers. But why did he choose Cagliari over Aston Villa? Well, it’s quite simple.
“Yes, my agent had told me about several offers, from Italy and England,” he explains, pointing out that the presence of two other Uruguayans in the dressing room was a major factor.
“I knew I liked (Cagliari) President (Tomasso) Giulini: I wanted to come here and I’m happy. I then heard (Christian) Oliva and (Nahitan) Nandez, they told me that Cagliari is an excellent team and the city is beautiful, peaceful, you live well.”
Pereiro would have become the first Uruguayan footballer in Aston Villa’s history. At Cagliari, however, he is among friends, Spanish-speaking ones too.
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