The word in Portugal today is that Aston Villa are already making plans for the 2019/20 season. And the club expect to be in the Premier League by then.
Newspaper Record claims that the Villans are interested in Benfica midfielder Keaton Parks, but only for next summer.
The Championship side have reportedly made an approach to know Benfica’s condition to negotiate his sale next year, and that would happen only in case of a Premier League promotion at the end of the season.
Another matter that Villa would be interested in is if Parks has an EU passport, which would make things easier for him to get a work permit to play in England.
Parks is American, born in Texas, and has been playing in Portugal since 2015, when he made the move from Liverpool Warriors to Varzim.
He signed for Benfica on a free move last summer, but has been struggling to get a place in the team, having made only eight official appearances for the Eagles so far.
Record doesn’t reveal what was Benfica’s response to Aston Villa’s approach, but we imagine they wouldn’t make many efforts to keep Parks at the club, especially in case of a good offer.
