Aston Villa are closing in on their first signing of the transfer window.
A move for Red Star Belgrade right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic appears to be in its ‘final stages’ as Aston Villa close in on a £7.8m deal for the talented 18-year-old.
After agreeing terms, Nedeljkovic is due to spend the rest of the season on loan at his current club Crvena Zvezda.
Although the Serbian is a player who will be unknown to most supporters, Unai Emery has tracked the highly-rated right-back for quite some time and will have been happy with what he saw.
Despite only turning 18 last month, the teenage sensation has impressed with his high level of quality and maturity on the European stage.
He’s featured in 26 games across all competitions this term, including four times in the Champions League.
One of those matches was against Manchester City as he faced one of the trickiest customers on the planet in Jack Grealish.
It would have been easy to forgive the youngster if he was run ragged by the Englishman, but he stood his ground and didn’t allow him to draw much, if any, loose change out of him.
According to Sofascore, he won three of his four ground duels, completed two of his dribbles and was only dribbled past once.
While performances like the one above have drawn the eyes of Aston Villa, it’s other attributes to his game that could see him become a very good right-back at the top level.
What will Kosta Nedeljkovic bring to Aston Villa?
Nedeljkovic has endured a meteoric rise over the past few years and after breaking onto the scene in his native country, will now be looking to fulfil his potential at Villa.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, Serbian football expert Kristijan Plazonja provided an in-depth insight into the unbelievable attributes he would bring to Villa Park.
He waxed lyrical about his qualities as an attacking full-back, outlining his desire to overlap from deep while comparing him to Inter Milan’s Denzel Dumfries, who is known for his ability to provide a goal threat from defence.
Plazonja said: “The attacking movement he has and the threat he causes, plus his athleticism reminds of Denzel Dumfries, but I’d say Kosta is more intelligent as a footballer. Right now he has much less of a goal threat.
“In the right hands, he’s definitely a top ten Premier League player, perhaps more, but it depends on the development in his position.”
“Don’t expect him to invert, or make play from deep. He’s very much an overlapping fullback with an incredible engine.”
Given Plazonja has predicted him to become a top player in the Premier League, it is difficult to ignore such praise.
However, first, he has the task of dislodging Matty Cash from his right-back role.
If he manages to do that, then supporters will know they have a serious player on their hands and one who could fulfil his huge potential.
