Aston Villa Target Arrives For Pre-season Tour As Unai Emery Faces Wait | OneFootball

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Aston Villa target Pervis Estupinan has reported to Milanello ahead of AC Milan’s pre-season tour, where Ruben Amorim will assess the defender before deciding his future.

The Villa Park outfit began the summer with changes at left-back, with Lucas Digne expected to return to Paris Saint-Germain and Andres Garcia already out on loan at Getafe.

That prompted Unai Emery to identify Estupinan as his preferred replacement, with the pair having previously worked together at Villarreal, as Villa look to strengthen ahead of a campaign that includes Champions League football.

The club were said to be in constant contact over a deal, which was said to be entering its final stages last weekend.

However, Amorim’s desire to assess whether he can revive Estupinan’s fortunes at Milan has brought negotiations to a standstill.

The 28-year-old only arrived at Milan from Brighton last summer but struggled to establish himself and is understood to be open to a return to the Premier League.

He featured in just 22 matches for the Rossoneri, accumulating a little over 1,300 minutes across all competitions.

According to Italian journalist Daniele Longo, the Ecuador international has now arrived at Milanello ahead of the Serie A club’s pre-season tour and is expected to travel with the squad.

With Amorim eager to see Estupinan in action before giving the green light to any transfer, the defender is in line for valuable minutes when Milan begin their schedule against Celtic in Glasgow on Saturday.

The Rossoneri then face Inter Milan in a derby clash in Perth before taking on Chelsea in Jakarta, with the tour concluding against Manchester United in Wroclaw.

Villa, meanwhile, are also heading to Asia for their own pre-season tour, beginning with a clash against the Indonesia All-Stars in Jakarta.

It now remains to be seen whether Amorim is convinced by Estupinan during Milan’s tour, or if Aston Villa can revive negotiations and finally get their long-awaited deal over the line.