Unai Emery ‘has called’ called Carlos Soler for Aston Villa, amid reports that a summer transfer could be on the cards.
That’s according to Estadio Deportivo, who say that Aston Villa are one of several sides looking into a deal for the Paris Saint Germain midfielder.
They explain that Soler’s phone threatens to use up a lot of battery in the coming months, with the Valencian out of the picture at PSG and set for a departure this summer.
A report earlier today stated that Aston Villa were already negotiating a deal for him as they look to bolster their squad for the Champions League next season and Estadio back that up.
They say that director of football Monchi and Emery are ‘accelerating’ to ensure he wins the race for Soler’s signature and place Aston Villa in pole position to get him.
He’s looking to take advantage of the club’s greater economic muscle compared to the player’s other suitors, such as Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Villarreal.
Indeed, according to them Emery has already called the midfielder to invite him to join him at Aston Villa and play in Europe next season.
They insist that there is no concrete effort to negotiate a transfer or loan at this moment in time, so the call from Emery is really just part of initial moves to test the waters.
There have been no formal discussions with any club, although the midfielder has absolutely been receiving phone calls and so have his entourage.
Real Sociedad have also made overtures as they want a creative midfielder for their squad, and they considered a move in January before going for Sheraldo Becker instead.
The big problem for Aston Villa is that Soler would prefer to return to Spain if he is leaving PSG this summer, and the chance to join Sociedad, Villarreal or Sevilla would be more attractive because of that.
Indeed, the latter two would be like returning home, particularly with Seville as it is the hometown of his partner.
Thus, it seems Aston Villa have work to do to convince him, a process Emery perhaps started with his phone call to the player.
