Aston Villa are interested in adding another winger to their ranks this summer, with Unai Emery talking to a La Liga transfer target.
Unai Emery has clearly identified the wide areas as requiring increased depth with the arrivals of Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin and Jaden Philogene this summer.
Philogene’s signing was a surprising one given Aston Villa only sold the 22-year-old to Hull City for £5 million last summer, but when Ipswich Town submitted an £18 million bid the club acted quickly to activate a clause that allowed them to match the offer.
With Philogene’s arrival, that means that Emery now has a wealth of wide options, including Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers, Lewis Dobbin and Iling-Junior, as well as the retuning academy graduate.
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It seems Emery is not content to stop there, though, with Villa now credited with interest in a Girona technician.
Aston Villa ‘preparing’ to try and sign Girona winger Viktor Tsygankov
Emery is looking to get his squad ready for the Champions League after a top four finish last season and in doing so he could now sign a player crucial to achieving that same feat with Girona.
Viktor Tsygankov was instrumental in helping Girona secure Champions League football with eight goals and seven assists in 30 league games last season.
Form like that does not go unnoticed and it would appear that the Ukrainian winger has piqued the interest of top Premier League clubs.
That is according to Spanish news outlet AS, who have reported that both Villa and Manchester United are now showing interest in a player already on Arsenal’s radar.
According to the report, ‘Manchester United and Aston Villa are lurking in the wings’ and ‘both clubs are preparing their strategies to try to convince the player, who has a contract until 2027 with Girona’.
Both Emery and Erik ten Hag have spoken to the player, as the report states: ‘The technicians of both English clubs, Ten Hag and Emery, have told Tsygankov that they want to count on him’.
Tsygankov has not yet returned for pre-season with Girona having featured for Ukraine at Euro 2024 but the fact he has a release clause of 30 million euros (£26m) which makes him a very attractive option at a decent price.
Do Aston Villa need to sign Tsygankov?
With the aforementioned wingers already at Villa, it does seem odd that Emery is pursuing another target.
However, with Diaby linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and Emery often playing a winger as a second striker, perhaps there is space for Tsygankov in the squad after all.
The worry would be that the 26-year-old’s signing could block the pathway for the young trio of Iling-Junior, Dobbin and Philogene; the latter only signing following assurances from Emery about game time.
Tskygankov is clearly very talented, with Spanish outlet Sport.es labelling him a ‘magician’ after he helped Girona to a 1-0 win over Las Palmas early last season, saying: “Tsygankov is a magician. He had a direct impact on the team’s attack again. The player also coped well with defensive tasks.”
Whether Philogene’s arrival will lead to Villa cooling their interest in the Ukraine international remains to be seen, but the club’s fans have learned to trust Emery’s decisions entirely so will back whatever the Spaniard decides.
