Aston Villa join race for Belgian – Emery’s side into another duel with West Ham

It seems it’s now Aston Villa who are following Belgian midfielder Mandela Keita.

Even though it had been said this week that West Ham United were chasing the 21-year-old, Unai Emery’s side apparently joined the competition.

That’s today reported by HLN, who point out rumours that Aston Villa are ‘pushing’ for Keita.

The midfielder still belongs to OH Leuven, but is on a loan at Royal Antwerp which is expected to lead to a permanent move, given the conditions for a purchase included in their deal.

HLN says there’s a big race for Keita, as there’s ‘extensive interest’ from clubs, especially in France.

There’s no expectation of a January move, though, as the midfielder already featured for the two sides this season, so he’d only switch clubs in the summer. The report claims that Royal Antwerp aim to make around €20m with his sale.

Earlier on Tuesday, we had covered reports which said Aston Villa and West Ham are fighting for Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus, and now it seems Unai Emery and David Moyes are putting up a battle for another player.