Aston Villa were active in the winter market as they added five new players to their squad of which three of them were attackers.
Unai Emery’s side paid €25m to Borussia Dortmund for Donyell Malen and signed Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio on loan from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
Aston Villa also had CF Monterrey’s Sergio Canales on their transfer agenda in the January window.
That’s according to TV Azteca, who cover the Villans’ failure to sign the 34-year-old for the second half of the season.
The Spaniard joined the Mexican club in 2023 and had previously played under Emery at Valencia. The Premier League club wanted to bring the attacking midfielder to Villa Park and even made an offer to him.
TV Azteca explain Aston Villa offered close to $5m [€4.7m] per year which is similar to his current salary at Monterrey. Despite the ‘tempting offer’ from the English club, the former Real Betis man turned it down.
Monterrey’s project has convinced Canales, and he believes in winning the title with them. The Liga MX season is divided into two categories, Apertura and Clausura. Monterrey finished fifth in Apertura and are currently 10th in the Clausura.
“He rejected Aston Villa’s offer. My respects to Canales, he made it clear that he came to Monterrey to be a champion and not just to earn money,” TV Azteca quote a source close to the player as saying.
