Diego Carlos exiting Aston Villa is looking increasingly likely as Unai Emery continues to line up a replacement for the Brazilian.
In recent days, Aston Villa defender Carlos has attracted interest from Premier League rivals Fulham, who are also joined by West Ham in the race for the 31-year-old.
Carlos did feature 27 times in the top-flight last term but with two years left on his contract, it’s looking as though Unai Emery wants to cash in on the former Sevilla defender.
And it appears the Spaniard is already lining up a replacement for the Europa League winner, with Villa adding Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Feyenoord ace Lutsharel Geertruida to their list of targets.
Unsurprisingly, Gomez and Geertruida aren’t the only players currently peaking Emery’s fancy as another Premier League defender has popped onto his radar.
Aston Villa consider Trevoh Chalobah as a Diego Carlos replacement
According to The Telegraph’s Matt Law, Aston Villa ‘like’ Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah as a possible replacement for Carlos, with Crystal Palace also throwing their name into the hat.
Chalobah was excluded from Chelsea’s pre-season tour and therefore is for sale this summer which has alerted Villa to the fact he could be a possibility.
The Cobham graduate is just an option on the shortlist at the moment for Emery but it could potentially be a real coup if the club manage to sign him.
Chalobah – now aged 25 – needs to play regular first-team football and under Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, that looks an impossible task.
The former England under-21 international featured 13 times in the Premier League last term as he played a bit-part role under Mauricio Pochettino, with it looking increasingly likely he will move on from Stamford Bridge.
Unai Emery will love Chalobah’s versatility
Emery is a tactical genius when it comes to using players in different positions across the pitch.
Take Douglas Luiz as an example. The Brazilian was nothing more than a midfield destroyer when the Spaniard arrived however, he transformed him into the complete player, who could break up play, pull the strings and impact the game in attack.
Emery achieved something similar with Ezri Konsa as the Englishman only ever played centre-back but last term, he was trialled as a right-back – playing instead of Matty Cash – and it worked a treat.
With Chalobah, meanwhile, he wouldn’t need moulding into multiple positions, having played 130 times as a centre-back, 88 times as a defensive midfielder and 20 appearances as a right-back, as per Transfermarkt.
This just underlines his quality as a versatile operator, with Chalobah capable of applying himself to a high standard wherever he’s deployed, and that is an essential trait to have as an Emery player.
