Aston Villa seek quality Barcelona attacker after Felix failure, with Emery UCL plan clear

Aston Villa are reportedly eyeing Barcelona man Raphinha after failing to sign Joao Felix, with the Atletico Madrid attacker recently moving to Chelsea.

Villa have made solid improvements to their squad this summer. Big moves for Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana – who scored on his debut – have been received well.

They were also on the hunt for Atletico Madrid forward Felix, who was Unai Emery’s main objective after seeing Moussa Diaby exit the club.

But Chelsea got him, having seen Conor Gallagher go the other way, and the Villans are now eyeing another La Liga star instead, in the form of Raphinha.

Reports suggests Villa have continued their efforts to get him, having been interested earlier in the window, with the improvement of their side for the Champions League seen as a priority.

Raphinha scored three times and assisted another four goals in seven Champions League games next season, so is no doubt a good pickup for Europe’s elite competition if the Villans manage to get him.

Suggestions throughout the summer have been that Barca are looking to sell some first-team players in order to be able to recruit, so the Brazilian could potentially be made available.

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Reports suggests the stance on Raphinha’s future from the club is currently unclear. With not much time left in the transfer window, they might want to keep him for now, knowing that there is little time to source a replacement.

He has started the season with three assists in two games, so is clearly having an impact.

But forward man Dani Olmo has recently been signed by Barca, which could take some reliance off other players. Whether or not that means Villa are able to sign Raphinha remains to be seen.

However, he is currently the high-calibre attacker sought after the failure at getting Felix, and the departure of Diaby.

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