The next few weeks could define Aston Villa’s upcoming season as Unai Emery battles to improve his squad in the transfer window.
Villa have not been afraid to dip into the transfer market this summer. Emery has made multiple signings throughout recent months to prepare his squad for the Premier League and Champions League.
Now, as the final weeks of the transfer window close in, one big area that the Villa manager is concentrating on is the defence.
The backline in 2024 was extremely inconsistent and cost the club multiple points throughout the latter half of the season.
As a result, Emery is aiming to crush this issue with the departure of defender Diego Carlos seen as likely. However, favourites Fulham may now pull out of the race for the Brazilian.
Fulham’s bid for Joachim Andersen delays any potential Diego Carlos move
At the start of the summer, it was reported that Villa were prepared to listen to offers for Carlos ahead of the new season.
Then, after a quite few quiet months, Fulham began their pursuit of the defender.
It was believed that the capital side wanted to reinforce its backline ahead of the new Premier League season.
As a result, Fulham placed an opening bid for Carlos but it was rejected by Villa as Emery hopes to get an increased sum of money for the defender.
However, this could have now backfired. According to Sky Sports, Fulham may not place another bid for Carlos.
The London side have now bid for Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen. An increased offer for Carlos would depend on the outcome of the Anderson situation despite their continued interest in the Brazilian.
Aston Villa have left it too late to sell Diego Carlos
With only a couple of weeks left of the transfer window, Villa have simply left it too late to sell Carlos.
As it stands, the Birmingham outfit only has three fit centre-backs, if they were to sell the Brazilian, they would risk not being able to find a replacement before the end of the month.
Emery must simply cut his losses and keep Carlos ready for the new campaign. The defender was a top performer last season and he could yet prove to be crucial again.
