Report: Aston Villa ready to push hard to sign World Cup wonderkid | OneFootball

Aston Villa Transfer Latest: Martin Baturina Race Heats Up as Emery Rebuilds Midfield

Aston Villa are shopping in an expensive aisle again, and this time the name is Martin Baturina. According to Calciomercato, Villa are in the mix for the Como midfielder, with Manchester United and Tottenham also circling.

This is the context. Villa have already lost major quality. Youri Tielemans has gone to Manchester United after his £35 million release clause was triggered. Morgan Rogers is close to a British record £117m move to Chelsea. That is a lot of ball progression, creativity and end product walking out of the door in one summer.

Unai Emery has responded quickly. Johan Manzambi has arrived from Freiburg for around £59m, while Joao Gomes has joined from Wolves for £38m. Even so, the rebuild is not finished. It cannot be. If anything, the Baturina link underlines how much surgery Villa still need in midfield and around the attacking line.

Photo: IMAGO

Martin Baturina profile fits Villa rebuild

Baturina, 23, made a strong impression in Serie A last season after joining Como from Dinamo Zagreb only last summer. He is primarily an attacking midfielder, though he can drift left and operate in multiple roles. That versatility matters. Emery values players who can solve more than one problem, and Baturina looks like that type.

There is pedigree there too. He has already shown composure on the international stage with Croatia, and his development curve is obvious. Players like this attract attention quickly, particularly when they combine technical quality with tactical flexibility.

Transfer fee remains major issue

The number being discussed is around £70m, which converts from the reported €80m. That is serious money for a player with promise and production, but not yet a full body of elite-level dominance. Como are entitled to ask for it. Premier League clubs are entitled to hesitate.

That is where this becomes interesting. Villa need quality, but they also need judgement. Spending big after banking huge fees can be smart. It can also become reactive. Baturina looks exciting, no question. At £70m, he needs to be more than exciting.

Champions League pressure shapes Aston Villa plans

Villa are planning for a season with Champions League football and without Amadou Onana, who is set to miss next season after an ACL injury suffered at the World Cup. That absence changes the balance of the squad. The need for control, rotation and reliable technical players grows quickly when the schedule gets heavier.

Baturina makes sense on football grounds. The price is the part that needs trimming. If Villa can get closer to a realistic figure, this is the sort of deal that could help define Emery’s next version of the team.

Our View

From an Aston Villa perspective, this feels plausible because the need is obvious. Tielemans gone, Rogers likely gone, Onana unavailable, that is a huge chunk of quality and variety missing. You do not patch that with one signing, and you probably do not replace it like for like either.

Baturina sounds like an Emery player. Technically clean, positionally flexible, young enough to improve, already tested at a decent level. Those are all positives. The concern is straightforward, £70m is top-table money. If you pay that, you are buying a difference-maker, not a project with good indicators.

Villa fans will probably like the ambition in this link. They should. The club cannot think small if it wants to stay around the Champions League places. But smart recruitment got Villa here, and smart recruitment has to remain the rule. If Baturina is available for something more sensible, it is easy to see the appeal. If the fee stays inflated because there is a Premier League auction, walking away would not be a sign of weakness. It would be common sense.

In short, good player, good fit, dangerous price. That is the whole story.

Source: Calciomercato