Aston Villa agreed fee to sign 23 y/o winger, but he doesn’t want to join

It’s a blow for manager Unai Emery

The January transfer window of the previous year was manager Unai Emery of Aston Villa’s first opportunity to add his personal touch to the team through hiring. Emery was not allowed to enjoy the luxury of the entire summer market because he was only appointed at the end of October.

Villa used the money saved to make two significant winter additions: forward

Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire for £14.3 million (Transfermarkt) and full-back

Alex Moreno from Real Betis for £11.6 million. Despite starting the season in the

lower part of the Premier League standings, they managed to finish eighth.

One year later, Emery’s team is only three points behind league leaders Liverpool after 20 games, giving them a real chance to contend for the title or play in the Champions League. Villa can offer themselves the best opportunity of securing or enhancing their spot for the rest of the season with the correct moves made in January, but Emery has now taken an early knock.

Ngonge set to snub Villa

According to an Italian rumor earlier this week (TuttoMercatoWeb), Villa agreed to

pay €10 million for Hellas Verona winger Cyril Ngonge. L’Arena confirms this news

while pointing out that the Villans reportedly made an offer of

€2 million in extras (Sport Witness).

If Ngonge were to leave Verona, he would much rather stay in Serie A and would not be interested in coming to

Villa Park. Therefore, Fiorentina, the domestic suitor, might be a better choice.

Ngonge, a 23-year-old right-sided attacker from his native Belgium, joined Verona from Groningen just this summer following stints with PSV and RKC Waalwijk. He rose through the youth systems at Club Brugge. He has contributed two assists and five goals in his first Serie A season of football, which has kept his team out of the relegation zone just on goal differential (Transfermarkt).

Bailey transformation under Emery softens blow

It’s somewhat surprising that Ngonge isn’t particularly keen on this move. He has the opportunity to trade a relegation

battle for a Champions League race, and it doesn’t seem like a sense of loyalty is at

play given his apparent willingness to join Fiorentina.

In any case, Emery’s main solace comes in the shape of Leon Bailey, one of his current choices. Having already recorded nine goals and eight assists across all competitions this season, the Jamaican is getting very close to a “double double.” With less than half of the season remaining, he is already having the best year of his Villa career in both categories (Transfermarkt).

Bailey has also been in particularly good form lately, having scored three goals in his previous seven Premier League games, including the game-winning goal against reigning champion Manchester City in December. He has also set up two goals.

Given that Nicolo Zaniolo, Moussa Diaby, and Matty Cash can all play on the right wing when necessary as part of a tactical reorganization, Emery ought to be fine till the season’s conclusion. Perhaps Emery’s desire to sign a right-back should take precedence over other winter transfer targets, as reported by The Athletic.