Earlier this week, claims that Aston Villa were interested in RC Lens’ Cheick Doucouré emerged.
The young midfielder appeared to be the alternative to Pape Sarr, for whom the Villans seemed reluctant to match an asking price, but there was competition.
Atalanta and Arsenal were both said to also be on the case, but it’s Aston Villa, according to Made in Lens, who have made the first move.
The website claim that Dean Smith’s side have made a ‘£10m offer’ for the defensive midfielder, which would be around €12m for the Ligue 1 side.
However, that ‘isn’t enough yet’ to convince the French club to sell their starlet, who would be able to leave for an amount similar to Loic Badé, meaning ‘between €15-18m’.
Arsenal are also still there, but they haven’t made the first move, simply ‘taking information’.
We’ll have to see if Villa return with a new bid, or if this was a one time only offer for the Ligue 1 club to consider.
