Barcelona beat Valencia 4-2 on Monday evening, with Robert Lewandowski getting a hat-trick and Fermin Lopez getting the other goal for the Blaugrana.
Monchi was in attendance at the match, which was held at the Montjuïc as huge renovations continue at the Camp Nou. The Aston Villa chief was seen in the club’s directors’ box and that obviously fuelled transfer rumours.
Initially, the first assumption was that Monchi was there to talk about Clement Lenglet’s future at Aston Villa, or lack of it. The Frenchman is on loan from Barcelona for the season, and at this stage it’s not thought that they’re going to keep him.
Then links with Jules Kounde were edged forward, as he’s another French defender the Catalan side could sell in the summer window. Barca would be looking for a big fee and it doesn’t feel like the kind of deal that Aston Villa would do.
Mundo Deportivo address all of this and say neither player was under discussion. On top of that, there’s been no appointment scheduled between Aston Villa and Barcelona, and Monchi is said to have got accreditation just to watch the match.
After all the fuss, Mundo Deportivo contacted Monchi and he made clear the trip was ‘nothing to do with any matter to be discussed, not at the moment’.
Aston Villa fans may want to take that with a pinch of salt, because there’s every chance Monchi is up to something transfer related, indeed nearly everything he does is with an eye towards the market.
