Wanting Milot Rashica in January, Aston Villa gave it their best without ever being successful.
After all, this was midway through the campaign, with Werder Bremen fighting against relegation, but the player eventually stayed, finishing the season at the Bundesliga club.
They maintained their top flight status the hard way, having to face Heidenheim in the relegation/promotion playoffs, doing so thanks to the away goals rule.
That means he could stay put, but with clubs asking about his services, Rashica wants to look elsewhere.
RB Leipzig seemed like the best option, but Weser Kurier explain talks have since stalled with the Champions League club, meaning Werder will have to find a sale elsewhere.
Rashica, down his end, dreams of the Champions League, and will likely be avidly watching what Leipzig get up to in the competition on Thursday against Atlético Madrid.
It’s explained the Bundesliga club were all set to pay the money to sign the Kosovo international, ‘but then came Corona’.
Leipzig still want to buy Rashica following the departure of Timo Werner, but they simply can’t afford to pay his €38m release clause, and are ‘far from’ doing so.
‘Too far’, Weser Kurier say, which opens the doors to other clubs, with Werder prepared to accept less money than they first would have because of the impact Covid-19 has had on football.
It’s said €25m would be enough, which remains very affordable for a club like Aston Villa, who get mentioned when the newspaper quote Frank Baumann, Bremen’s director of football.
He said: “There are always clubs that find Milot interesting when it comes to football. There was definitely interest from many”.
Weser Kurier then state Aston Villa were ‘among others’ who had made a ‘specific offer in winter’.
Werder need around €14m to balance their books when taking last year’s transfers into account, but, as has been said, the price for Rashica is now around €25m.
We’ll have to see whether Aston Villa, now safe and sound in the Premier League for another season, come knocking again, but it feels like Bremen kind of want them to.
