Aston Villa welcomed five new faces to represent at both senior and academy level in the January window however, Unai Emery missed out on one particular target.
The winter transfer window was a chance for Unai Emery to bolster his Aston Villa squad mid-season, which eventually concluded with a single first-team acquisition, Morgan Rogers.
Rogers represented the only hire that could immediately strengthen the first team, while Kosta Nedeljkovic, Lino Sousa, Keilan Quinn and Joe Gauci arrived at Villa Park to develop on loan and in the academy respectively.
The £15m purchase of Rogers was the biggest piece of business orchestrated by Emery last month, although the former Middlesbrough forward was not the only first-team target on the manager’s radar.
Why Aston Villa didn’t sign January target Raoul Bellanova
News in Italy via TuttoMercatoWeb has revealed the reason why Villa opted against signing January target, Raoul Bellanova in the winter transfer window.
The 23-year-old right-back, who has the versatility to be utilised offensively too, was said to be a player admired by Emery, but the Spaniard was dealt a blow when exploring the potential of capturing the Torino gem.
According to the Italian news outlet, the reason that Villa decided not to pursue the purchase of Bellanova was due to the price tag that his side had placed on him, with €20m (£17m) deemed a price too high by the Midlands club.
Why Aston Villa should have signed Raoul Bellanova
Lauded as “wonderful” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the versatile defender could have provided Emery with cover and competition for Matty Cash, particularly after learning the extent of Ezri Konsa’s knee injury.
Now that the Englishman is expected to be away from action for the next “three to four weeks”, Cash is the clear route to keeping the strength on the right side, an area that Bellanova would have challenged for.
As cited by FBref, the Italian could have been the competition for Cash that would’ve handed Villa additional depth, averaging 4.30 progressive carries per 90 in Serie A this season, with the Poland international falling behind with 2.82 per 90 in the Premier League.
From defensive cover to having the ability to provide in the final third, only time will tell if stumbling at the £17m mark was a wise decision for the manager to make in the January window.
Hindsight is a useful thing, posing the question of whether the injury to Konsa would have swayed Emery and his hiring colleagues towards the prospect of getting a deal for Bellanova over the line.
