MANAGER FUMES AS ASTON VILLA HOLD ‘CONVERSATIONS’ TO SIGN HIS £13M ACE

Aston Villa are looking to bring Marcos Acuna to the Premier League and Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar is not happy about the ‘uncertainty’ surrounding one of his key players. 

Much of the pre-match discussions surrounding Sevilla’s UEFA Super Cup clash with Manchester City on Wednesday night was dominated by the future of a player who would have been one of the first names on his team sheet at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.

Sevilla president Pepe Castro admitted earlier on Wednesday that Aston Villa are in discussions to take World Cup-winning left-back Marcos Acuna away from the Europa League winners.

And while Mendilibar did not mention Acuna by name after Sevilla’s sickening penalty shoot-out defeat to Pep Guardiola’s men, it did not take much reading between the lines to figure out the source of his frustration.

“It’s uncertainty. Until September 1, you don’t know what can happen, and it’s a shame,” Mendilibar fumes, via El Desmarque  “I’ve said it 40,000 times. I don’t understand how (the window) is set up like this. But it is what it is, period.

“We don’t know which players are going to stay. Last season, I said that I had some good footballers and that I wanted those good footballers to stay, even if no more came.

“They talk to the players before they do with the club. They reach agreements with the player before they do with the club. Given that, it is very difficult.

“A player with a two-year contract, they are messing with him and there are things that I don’t understand.”

Acuna is currently tied down until the summer of 2025 at Sevilla. The Andalusian giants reportedly want a minimum of £13 million, though Castro plays down reports that Aston Villa have seen a lowball bid of just £4.3 million rejected.

“We don’t have any written offer from Monchi or Aston Villa. They’re just conversations,” the president explains.

“Acuna is a world champion player with Argentina, a European champion with Sevilla and has a price. When an offer arrives, we will study it. And if it helps us to improve the team and be able to bring in young players with potential, then that is our business model,” Castro adds.

“We are going to return to that business model; young players with potential and capital gains. If Monchi calls me, for Sevilla I will do what I have to do – what is good for the club.”