Aston Villa are one of the sides eyeing up a potential move for Glasgow Rangers defender Borna Barisic, alongside AS Roma.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who say Aston Villa ‘like’ the player and could rival the Italian side for his signature.
The website explains that Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto recently blocked a deal for Marcos Leonardo as he know that the money is needed to strengthen other areas of the pitch.
They particularly need a player on the left-wing and are looking at various options to do so, and an ‘attractive name’ on their list of options is Barisic.
He’s been at Rangers since a €2.45m move from NK Osijek in 2018 and has been a key player at Ibrox since, playing for them in Scotland and in Europe, the latter something Roma value highly.
His contract expires next summer, though, and he’s found himself out of the side under Michael Beale and Phillip Clement this season, leading to suggestions he could be on the way out of Ibrox.
That could even happen as early as the January transfer window, which would be Rangers last chance to get a figure for him should he not sign a new contract before the summer.
Roma’s belief is that he could be secured ‘at almost zero cost’ but there is competition for him, and Aston Villa are now showing an interest.
According to Calciomercato they also ‘like’ the defender and thus could make their move for him as well to bolster Unai Emery’s options.
Adding a left-back to the squad seems to be a priority for him and Monchi, despite the fact they have Lucas Digne and Álex Moreno in the squad already.
They were keen on Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna in the summer transfer window, but it appears they may have now turned their attention to Rangers and Barisic, with a growing belief he will be leaving Ibrox in the coming months.
