Aston Villa are ‘in talks’ with Sevilla over defender Diego Carlos, and a deal could be closed in the coming days.
That’s according to Marca and Estadio Deportivo, who cover the deal being negotiated between the two clubs today.
Marca explain that while the focus is on Jules Koundé and a potential move to Chelsea, it is actually Carlos who has ‘overtaken his partner’ and is being tipped to be the ‘first big sale’ this summer.
Sevilla and Aston Villa are ‘already in contact’ about the defender, who has a €75m release clause in his contract.
Whether Villa will be going that high isn’t mentioned, but Marca have learned the Birmingham club have made the Spanish side aware of their interest, and are now at the ‘beginning of a negotiation’.
There is no hurry for them to get anything done, but they do want to find a solution ‘in a short space of time’.
That is largely being pushed by Aston Villa, who want to get ahead of possible competition from Newcastle after their efforts to sign him in January, and Steven Gerrard has made him a priority signing. Sevilla could also do with a sale before June 30th so they can put it on the books for this year.
This is all backed up by Estadio, who say that sources close to the operation have made it clear it could ‘come to fruition’ in the next few weeks or even days.
The deadline would certainly be the end of June, but they say any deal would be for a figure of €50m, something Aston Villa are ‘willing to reach’ with bonuses included.
That’s where the first ‘tug of war’ is currently happening in the negotiations because Sevilla are aiming to bring in around €120m by selling Carlos and Koundé this year.
The plan is to sell the Brazilian first, so they can then negotiate from a position of strength with Chelsea for the latter, and push for a deal close to his clause.
It seems a deal is there to be done for Villa, though, who may be able to use that June deadline to their advantage.
