Aston Villa now ‘interested’ in £40m ‘general’ at Villa Park

Aston Villa aAston Villa are interested in signing Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams at Villa Park this summer, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GIVEMESPORT.re interested in signing a £40m “general” at Villa Park this summer.

Unai Emery hopes to bolster his Villans squad as they look ahead to a season balancing Premier League and Europa Conference League commitments.

Aston Villa transfer news – Tyler Adams

According to reports, Adams is a prime target for Emery should he choose to strengthen his options in the middle of the park this summer, having already added Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans to their ranks on a free transfer.

Leeds would like to keep the former RB Leipzig star around as they look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League following last season’s relegation, but there is an acceptance that this may not be possible.

Meanwhile, The Shields Gazette has claimed that Leeds have slapped a £40m price tag on the midfielder’s head, with The Athletic corroborating, saying that the club would like to double the £20m spent on bringing him to Elland Road last summer.

Jones has recently told GIVEMESPORT that Villa have been monitoring Adams’ situation and believes he’s the type of player that would fit what Emery is looking for.

But the journalist has claimed that Villa’s interest has been “difficult to gauge” this summer, hinting that a move may not be so straightforward.

What has Jones said about Leeds and Adams?

Jones told GIVEMESPORT: “He’s looking for a new club at the moment. He’s looking for avenues to explore, and Aston Villa is an obvious one for that.

“There is interest there. I’m not sure how strong it is at this moment. It’s been difficult to gauge.”

Would Adams be a good signing for Villa?

Described as the “general” by United States head coach Gregg Berhalter, the holding midfielder made just 26 appearances at the base of Leeds’ midfield last season, with his campaign curtailed by a hamstring injury suffered in March.

The 24-year-old made an average of 3.7 tackles and one interception per game in the top flight, according to WhoScored, showing he is capable of breaking down opposition attacks and mopping up the play.

And the 5 foot 9 star’s impressive underlying stats compare favourably with his positional peers, ranking in the top 1% of midfielders across Europe’s big five leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League for tackles made (3.72) and 3% for blocks per 90 minutes (2.00) over the last 365 days, as per FBref.

Therefore, Adams may feel he has done enough in his short Premier League career to earn himself a move back into the top flight this summer.

The Sky Sports reporter has also revealed that Arsenal want a whopping £50m for the 21-year-old after his impressive loan spell at Reims last season.

The Sun, however, claims that the Gunners are ready to do business at £35m, which is still a lot of money.

Balogun really excelled during his time at Reims, scoring 22 goals in 39 appearances, as per Transfermarkt.

What has Teamnewsandtix said about Folarin Balogun and Arsenal?

Teamnewsandtix says the Gunners are open to selling Balogun this summer but thinks they may struggle to get the sort of money they are looking for.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the Arsenal insider said: “Balogun is weird because in the last couple of days, two stories have come out with different prices that Arsenal are willing to accept. As far as I know, Arsenal are happy to sell him.

“It’s a decision I’m also on board with personally, not that that overly matters, but yeah, it’s about what price point and who’s looking at him. And obviously with price point, it depends on who’s looking. I mean, we can say we want £40m, for example, but if you’re only getting Ligue 1 teams looking at him and their names aren’t PSG, they’re not going to pay £40m. It’s just not going to happen. So the price will be judged by who’s looking.

Who could Folarin Balogun join this summer?

If Balogun does decide to leave the Emirates, he may have options.

According to The Sun, Palace are keen on the USA international, while Italian giants AC Milan and Inter Milan are big admirers of the player.

However, it is hard to imagine any of those clubs forking out £50m or even £35m on Balogun.

Inter, for example, are trying to take Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku on another loan, as reported by The Telegraph, suggesting that they do not have too much money to spend in this transfer window.

It means Arsenal will probably have to lower their asking price if Balogun is to get a permanent move this summer. If not, he is likely to remain with Mikel Arteta’s squad after warning his employers that he is unwilling to depart on a temporary basis again.

“What I can say is that I definitely won’t go on loan again,” he was recently quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

Aston Villa’s £50m target must be a good deal