Over the course of the transfer window, there was a period where it seemed that Aston Villa were going to seriously try and sign Federico Chiesa.
This came at a time when the Italy international seemed out of place in Max Allegri’s 3-5-2 tactics, and an exit from Turin was being considered by the Juventus star.
Aston Villa were reportedly interested, even if the player himself wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of a move to Birmingham, and the Premier League club were ready to break the bank for him, according to Goal Italia journalist Romeo Agresti.
Among the areas he touches upon, he discusses the idea that the forward will be given a new contract towards the end of the year to avoid a transfer saga over the next year.
That’s when he says ‘there was no shortage’ of interest from England during the summer transfer window, such as Aston Villa’s idea of ‘putting around €70m in the pot’.
This would have smashed their transfer record at the time (Emi Buendía’s €38.4m arrival), which was still broken a bit later by the €55m signing of Moussa Diaby.
That was a discussion that ‘never got off the ground’, but the threat was there, and while they might not have been his first choice, we all know how convincing Unai Emery can be when he wants to be.
Just ask Nicolò Zaniolo…
