Former Chelsea star considers Premier League return as Aston Villa step up interest
Aston Villa are said to be interested in Barcelona full-back Marcos Alonso as the Spanish defender is considering a return to the Premier League.
With Unai Emery’s side now balancing Europe alongside the Premier League, he will be keen to bolster his squad across the board.
Aston Villa already have the likes of Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno to rely upon at left-back, but Emery is seemingly keen to add another option in this position.
Moreno has missed the start of the new campaign through injury and the long-term future of Digne still remains up in the air.
The French defender is said to be nearing a switch to OGC Nice, but Aston Villa are keen to sign his replacement before sanctioning the move.
According to AS, Aston Villa are looking to sign Alonso and it has been speculated that a ‘firm offer’ has already been made.
The 32-year-old defender only has one more year left on his contract at Barcelona, although the club does hold the option of extending his deal by a further year.
Last season the defender featured in 37 games across all competition, although plenty of his appearances did come from the bench.
Alonso would certainly add plenty of experience to Aston Villa’s backline and he would also be a useful player for their European adventure.
By all accounts, Xavi would be happy to keep Alonso around at Barcelona for the season, but the club have been unable to register him up until this point because of FFP.
If Barcelona aren’t able to register the defender soon then it would give Aston Villa a free run to sign him at a discounted price.
Aston Villa managed to quickly put their opening-day defeat against Newcastle behind them as they swept away Everton in their latest fixture.
Plenty of fans and pundits alike are expecting big things from Aston Villa this season and they are certainly a club heading in the right direction right now.
Time will tell if they do manage to seal a deal for Alonso as we approach the end of the summer transfer window.
READ MORE: All the Premier League completed transfers in the summer window of 2023
