Spanish side Granada are eyeing up a double raid on Aston Villa and Watford as they plan to overhaul their forward line this summer.
That’s according to Grada 3, who say the La Liga club have identified Villa’s Jota Peleteiro and the Hornet’s Luis Suarez as possible targets.
First, there is Jota. The website state that Granada are determined to add a wide man to their forward line and have drawn up a list of three possible targets.
This includes Espanyol’s Adrián Embarba, Almería’s José Carlos Lazo and the aforementioned Jota.
However, deals for the first two could prove too costly with Espanyol denying the existence of a release clause Granada believed they could take advantage of and Almería demanding €5m for their man.
That leaves the Aston Villa man as the more attainable target, with it explained that he ‘aspires to return’ to Spain after falling down the pecking order at Villa Park.
He only has a year left on his deal at Villa and given his status in the squad; it is believed that ‘his cost would not be high’. Thus, Granada ‘has him on the agenda’ although they have not ‘advanced’ into negotiations with Aston Villa as yet.
Adding a wide player is not Granada’s only ambition, though, as they would also like to find themselves an out and out striker.
In that regard, their ‘objective’ is Watford’s Suarez, who is back at Vicarage Road following an impressive loan spell with Real Zaragoza last season.
All indications from Watford have been that they intend to use him in the Championship next season, but Grada say that ‘the truth’ is that the club are ‘more open than ever’ to negotiating a deal as the player does not want to play in the second flight.
The problem will be in the figures, with them unable to match Watford’s asking price. Instead, they are looking to secure a loan deal with a purchase option tagged on the end.
Whether that will be acceptable to Watford isn’t clear, although it seems unlikely given the long list of clubs who have made it clear they would happily pay for the striker this summer.
Either way, Suarez is considered ‘the goal’ for Granada, although they will probably need to put in some work to convince Watford first.
