Monchi targets £21m star as next Aston Villa signing, he flopped at Nottingham Forest

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Aston Villa will certainly not have a lack of depth for the upcoming season.

Aston Villa upset the odds to finish fourth in the Premier League last season and secure Champions League qualification.

They have taken every opportunity this summer to gear up their squad for their European ventures with eight new signings arriving at Villa Park.

However, they are not done yet and HITC revealed that Villa remain locked in talks with Atletico Madrid for Joao Felix.

The Portuguese star would be a statement signing for Unai Emery and Villa are even prepared to make Felix the club’s highest earner.

But Villa have not put all their eggs in one basket and still have other transfer targets this summer – including at centre-back.

Aston Villa target Sevilla star

According to Spanish outlet VamosMiSevilla, Monchi – Villa’s President of Football Operations – has identified Loic Bade as a centre-back target.

Diego Carlos has had a disappointing pre-season with Villa and could be headed out the exit door.

HITC revealed in May that Villa will consider offers for Carlos this summer, two years after they signed him from Sevilla for £26million.

The report states that Sevilla are not interested in bringing Carlos back but that he will likely leave Villa this summer. Villa are ready to raid Sevilla again for Bade, who is available for 25million Euros (£21million).

Bade has previously been linked to Tottenham but he laughed off claims of a move this summer.

The 24-year-old is currently with the French squad for the Olympics.

Loic Bade flopped at Nottingham Forest

Bade previously joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan deal in 2022, but the French defender didn’t experience a single minute of first-team action.

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Not only did Forest not choose to exercise their buy option, they terminated his loan deal in January and he returned to Rennes.

He then joined Sevilla on loan for the second half of the season and impressed the Spanish outfit enough that they chose to sign him permanently last summer.