Aston Villa have pulled off a ‘fantastic’ transfer coup while luring Sevilla defender Diego Carlos to the Premier League for a bargain £26 million, Spanish football expert Terry Gibson tells El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast.
The curtain only came down on the 2021/22 campaign eight days ago.
And in the blinking of an eye, Aston Villa have signed three highly talented footballers without breaking the proverbial bank, bringing in Philippe Coutinho, Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos for a combined fee of just over £40 million.
Defensive resilience was not exactly Villa’s strong point last term. They let in more goals, 54, than relegated Burnley.
But securing the services of one of the finest centre-halves in world football for less than Everton paid for Michael Keane should go a long way to solving that particular problem.
Particularly when you consider that the indefatigable Carlos is a defender ‘built for the Premier League’.
Aston Villa sign Sevilla’s Diego Carlos for just £26m
“Oh, fantastic signing. With all due respect to Villa, I thought he would go to a Champions League team,” says Gibson. “I am surprised that he’s decided to drop out of that competition.
“£20-odd million is a really good signing, I think he’s a fantastic player. Another good profit made by Sevilla. He’s 29. So maybe that’s the reason why the fee is slightly lower than I expected.
“But, if there’s any Aston Villa fans listening, he’s a sensational centre-back who’s built for the Premier League.
“He’s a man-mountain, he’s quick, good on the ball, loves defending, he’s aggressive. That’s a super signing for Aston Villa. That’s an upgrade on what they’ve already got, clearly.”
As recently as two years ago, as Carlos helped Sevilla add yet another Europa League trophy to their enviable collection, Liverpool were quoted a staggering £65 million fee for a late-blooming centre-half who had come from nowhere to become arguably the most reliable defender in the whole of Spanish football.
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Last season’s 14th-place finish is proof that money can only take you so far, however, and Steven Gerrard will have nowhere to hide if an expensively-assembled Villa squad continue to perform well below expectations in the coming months.
Aston Villa will now turn their attention to Calvin Bassey of Rangers. James Tarkowski is another on Gerrard’s radar, though Carlos’ arrival could see the Burnley stopper join another Premier League club instead.
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