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Unai Emery hasn’t turned up at Aston Villa to live a life of mid-table finishes. He wants more, much more, and given what he achieved with Villarreal he’ll feel that’s possible.

The manager will almost certainly have better backing at Villa than he did with the Spanish club, but he’ll need to use his funds carefully.

One of the players currently being linked with Aston Villa is Marcus Thuram. Tuesday’s edition of L’Equipe reports Emery wanted the attacker at Villarreal and hasn’t lost sight of him since taking the job in Birmingham.

Emery is said to want to make Aston Villa competitive on the European stage, and is ‘determined’ to secure the signing.

Thuram’s contract at Borussia Monchengladbach expires in the summer, and Bild have reported that €10m could get him in January.

Aston Villa’s problem? Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and an unnamed ‘top 5’ Premier League team are also keen.