Aston Villa

Aston Villa

Premier League • England

Aston Villa identify new January target as AC Milan threaten to derail Monchi talks with LaLiga star

Aston Villa are being linked with Oscar Mingueza and Marc Pubill

Aston Villa are being linked with Oscar Mingueza and Marc Pubill

Aston Villa opened talks to sign Celta Vigo right-back Oscar Mingueza last week but could miss out on his signing amid competition from AC Milan, so they’ve reportedly identified an alternative target.

Mingueza, 25, is admired by Villa’s director of football operations, Monchi, who has been in Spain in an attempt to thrash out a deal with Celta Vigo.

Monchi attended Celta Vigo’s match against Rayo Vallecano and reports from Spain claim that Villa will not have any problems reaching an agreement with the Spanish club.

However, Mingueza also has interest from AC Milan and Roma and according to journalist Angel Garcia, as relayed by Diairo de Almeria, the right-back is more tempted by a move to Milan at the moment.

Interestingly, he also claims that Celta Vigo would prefer to sell to RB Leipzig as they would be willing to loan Mingueza back to the club for the remainder of the season.

Other outlets have stated that Leipzig have withdrawn from the race for Mingueza, but Garcia suggests that Villa have an alternative target in mind should they miss out on him.

It’s claimed that Monchi has shortlisted Almeria’s Marc Pubill as an alternative target to Mingueza. The 21-year-old has a €40million (£33.6m / $41m) release clause in his contract, but the suggestion is that Villa wouldn’t have to go that high to get him.

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TEAMtalk sources have confirmed that Villa have made the signing of a new right-back one of their priorities for this month, as Unai Emery wants more competition for Matty Cash.

Various outlets have named Mingueza as their top target, with Fabrizio Romano reporting last week that Villa have opened talks with Celta Vigo over a transfer. David Ornstein has also made the same claim previously.

The links to Pubill are interesting though. The youngster was close to joining Serie A high-flyers Atalanta last summer, before the move fell through late in the window.

He has made 16 appearances for Almeria in Spanish second division this season and started their match against Cordoba today (Sunday). He is a key player for Almeria, who are top of the league and pushing for promotion back to LaLiga.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Villa do look at a move for Pubill, but at this stage, other reports suggest that they haven’t given up on a deal for Mingueza, even though Garcia’s claims contradict that.

IN FOCUS: Aston Villa target Oscar Mingueza

Aston Villa target Oscar Mingueza