UPDATE: Francesco Guerrieri has since deleted his post (see below) about Jovan Mijatović, and has updated that Aston Villa are instead signing Kosta Nedeljković, who is a right-back and not a striker.
Aston Villa are today suddenly mentioned in the race for Red Star striker Jovan Mijatovic, as they appear to be trying to beat Manchester City to his signature.
The news comes from Italy, where Calciomercato journalist Franceso Guerrieri claims that Unai Emery’s side are ‘negotiating’ for his signing.
It’s said that Aston Villa are in talks for a deal worth €7m up front plus €2m in performance bonuses.
That’s all the reporter has to say for now, with no information about the competition for Mijatovic.
The reason why the claims about Aston Villa’s attempt comes in a surprising time because, earlier this week, it was said the striker was ‘about to move’ to Manchester City.
It had been claimed in Germany that Pep Guardiola’s side have very advanced talks for the transfer, leaving Bayer Leverkusen behind in the race for him.
Those reports did not say how much Manchester City were putting on the table, though, so it’s still not clear if Aston Villa are negotiating a big deal with Red Star or whether that’s what they are asking.
With this race getting a lot more interesting, we should soon get some bigger updates on it, as Monchi continues to do what he does best.
