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Aston Villa have made an approach for Santiago Beltrán ahead of the next transfer window, after months of keeping an eye on the River Plate goalkeeper.

That is the latest development coming from Argentina, where River are also getting closer to securing the 21-year-old’s future.

Villa’s interest had previously been presented as monitoring, with reports this week saying they had sent scouts to watch Beltrán.

Now there is a claim of an actual approach, although there’s no indication yet of an offer or formal negotiations between the clubs.

Aston Villa make their move

Soy del Millo explain Beltrán has “received an approach” from Aston Villa with the next transfer window in mind.

They don’t provide details about what that approach involved. There’s also no proposed fee or indication that Villa have contacted River directly. Still, it’s a small step forward from the scouting claims we’ve been getting.

Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and Real Betis are also mentioned as interested clubs. There’s nothing new on those fronts, so Aston Villa are the interesting part of this particular update.

Beltrán’s performances explain why he’s getting this attention. He has now played 38 times for River, conceding 32 goals and keeping 17 clean sheets. The bigger issue for Villa is what River are doing about it.

Every Aston Villa signing 26/27NationalityPrevious ClubFee
Nicolas JacksonSenegalChelsea£65m
Johan ManzambiSwitzerlandFreiburg£59.5m
Ibrahim MbayeSenegalPSG£47m
Joao GomesBrazilWolves£38m
Zion SuzukiJapanParma£30m
Taylor Harwood-BellisEnglandSouthampton£29m
Matteo RuggeriItalyAtletico Madrid£17m
Modou Keba CisseSenegalLASK£4.3m
Leon GoretzkaGermanyBayern MunichFree
Alejandro GarnachoArgentinaChelseaLoan
Aaron Wan-BissakaDR CongoWest HamLoan

River agreement ‘on track’

River Plate

Renzo Pantich says an agreement to extend Beltrán’s contract is “on track”. His current deal runs until December 2027, and River want to improve his salary and extend that commitment.

Crucially, they also plan to substantially increase his release clause. Reports earlier this week put River’s desired new clause at around €100m (£86.7m). That’s a huge jump from the protection currently in his contract.

So there’s a bit of a race developing around Beltrán. River clearly don’t want to lose control of the situation, and the renewal now appears to be moving in the right direction.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, have gone from being repeatedly linked with the goalkeeper to being credited with an approach.

There’s still a long way between that and an actual transfer. For Villa, though, getting anywhere with this before Beltrán signs his new River deal could make quite a difference.

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