Aston Villa are now set to lose out on an ‘exceptional’ target they previously tracked in the transfer window.
It’s been a complete summer of change for Aston Villa, who have overhauled their squad ahead of the 2024/25 campaign kicking off next weekend.
Seven new players have arrived in Unai Emery’s squad while six have departed permanently, including big-money moves for Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz.
The mass amount of changes have perhaps impacted their pre-season results with Villa losing against Columbus Crew, Club America and Borussia Dortmund ahead of their campaign starting against West Ham.
It’s not just poor results that have caused supporters pain leading up to the season starting, as prime Villa target Joao Felix looks set to join Chelsea and unfortunately, he isn’t the only target potentially heading to a Premier League rival.
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Aston Villa set to miss out on Brajan Gruda to Brighton
Earlier in the transfer window, Villa were one of the frontrunners to sign German winger Brajan Gruda from Bundesliga side Mainz 05.
Gruda was a key creative and attacking weapon for Mainz last term, with the 20-year-old securing 28 appearances in his senior breakthrough campaign while supplying seven goal contributions.
Previously likened to Barcelona legend Andreas Iniesta due to his creative output and energetic displays, it was no surprise to see Emery want the German under-21 international in his squad.
Sadly, it appears Monchi never advanced in pursuit of the ‘exceptional’ talent and that has allowed Premier League rivals Brighton to race ahead in negotiations, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that a £25m fee has been verbally agreed.
This will serve as a huge blow to Aston Villa, who could have unearthed their ‘next Jack Grealish’ by landing Gruda.
What Brajan Gruda would have brought to Aston Villa
Despite his young age, Gruda has showcased his versatility at Mainz having played as an attacking midfielder, right winger and centre-forward last term.
Emery is a fan of players who can operate in multiple positions, hence why he used Ezri Konsa as a right-back and transformed Luiz into an attacking force.
Gruda, who shares similarities to Grealish with his ball-carrying, is also very gifted in possession and this is reinforced by his FBref statistics.
The German starlet ranked inside the top 10% of midfielders across Europe for progressive carries and the top 2% for successful take-ons.
With Diaby no longer at the club, Villa will miss his excellent ball-carrying and therefore, Gruda could have been an ideal replacement for the Frenchman.
Nonetheless, it looks as though Emery and Monchi have missed out on one of the most promising youngsters on the planet when they could have signed him for £25 million.
