Aston Villa

Aston Villa: Emery missed out on dream Williams deal amid summer interest

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Image for Aston Villa: Emery missed out on dream Williams deal amid summer interest

Aston Villa’s owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have not been shy when it comes to spending money to bring new players to the Midlands club. 

Over the past few years, Villa have spent significant amounts of money to sign players such as Diego Carlos, Philippe Coutinho, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.

And during the latest January transfer window, Unai Emery brought in Alex Moreno and Jhon Duran to help strengthen his squad heading into the second half of the season.

However, one other player the Villans tried to get hold of that we feel would have been a dream signing for them and Emery was Nico Williams.

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Towards the end of January, journalist Dominic King revealed that Villa were willing to pay a club record fee of £45m to sign Williams from Athletic Bilbao, but were unsuccessful due to the winger’s wishes to stay where he is.

Meanwhile, it has emerged in the past week that Villa are keen on reviving their interest in the Spain international.

With 94 appearances to his name for Bilbao across their senior and youth sides, the 20-year-old has scored 19 goals and delivered 19 assists, with seven goals and six assists coming across his 26 appearances this season.

Having featured in all 21 of Bilbao’s La Liga games this season, the Spaniard is in the top three for the average of shots (1.9), key passes (1.3) and dribbles per game (1.6) he’s made at the club.

Should Villa try and sign Nico Williams again in the summer?

Yes

Yes

No

No

This showcases the clear attacking talent he has and how much of a dangerous opponent he is for defenders and goalkeepers to come up against.

Described as a “superb” player by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Williams would surely have been a dream signing for Villa given the talent he clearly has now and the time he has ahead of him to become an even better player.

Looking ahead to the next summer transfer window, if the Bilbao star continues to impress and pick up more goal contributions, we feel that the Villa Park outfit should make another approach to buy him and convince the youngster to start a new chapter in his career on the Premier League stage.

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