Villa were reportedly in the hunt for the highly rated 21-year-old Hatters full-back but he’s gone to the East Midlands rather than the West.
Aston Villa have missed out on one of their reported summer transfer targets as James Justin has officially sealed a move to Leicester City from Championship new-boys Luton Town, subject to Premier League approval.
The highly-rated, versatile full-back enjoyed a superb 2018-19 campaign for the Hatters, scoring three goals and registering eight assists in League One according to Transfermarkt.
His contributions from 43 league appearances helped Luton win the title and go up into the Championship, earning him a place in the EFL Team of the Season, and as a result, interest from some top-flight clubs came his way.
With Villa arguably in need of more depth and quality on defensive flanks, Dean Smith’s Premier League new-boys were rumoured to be prioritising a move for the 21-year-old after sealing the signings of Wesley Moraes, Kortney Hause, Jota and Anwar El-Ghazi.
According to The Mirror (18 June, page 46), they failed with a £7.5million bid for Justin as the Foxes moved into pole position and on Friday the East Midlanders announced on their official website and social media channels that the deal was done – Sky Sports News saying the fee could rise to £8million.
The news will come as a blow to Villa fans, with quite a few already having accepted that Justin would not be coming to Villa Park following a report in The Sun from Wednesday that said the move was done.
Nonetheless, it will surely be a minor setback in what has been a superb 2019 for the B6 faithful and, with Premier League football fast approaching, some great players coming in to supplement an already-impressive squad and things behind the scenes looking rosy, the big picture is not so bad.
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