Aston Villa react to Tottenham ‘hijack’ by targeting Real Madrid midfielder Unai Emery called ‘incredible’ | OneFootball

Aston Villa have moved on after missing out on Conor Gallagher to Tottenham Hotspur, with a report claiming that manager Unai Emery is now planning to raid Real Madrid for a midfielder that he worked with at Arsenal.

Villa were on the verge of getting a deal done for Gallagher after agreeing terms with Atletico Madrid. Although Gallagher was willing to switch to Villa Park, as reported by our transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, his preference was always Tottenham, who eventually made a late move and have agreed a £34.7m (€40m, $47m) transfer.

Our transfer insider, Dean Jones, has reported the three reasons why Gallagher always preferred Tottenham to Aston Villa, including his tight-knit family.

According to Sports Boom, following Tottenham’s ‘hijack’ of a deal for Gallagher, Villa manager Unai Emery is now targeting Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos.

Emery has now ‘turned his attention’ to Ceballos, even though he is not the exact profile of Gallagher, claims the report..

The Villa manager worked with the midfielder when he was in charge of Arsenal, and he hopes that the good relationship with his Spanish compatriot will help him convince him to move to Villa Park in the middle of the season.

It was Emery who first signed Ceballos for Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid in the summer of 2019.

The Spanish midfielder praised Emery at the time as being “a very tactical coach” and backed him to make him “a better player”.

Even after Emery left Arsenal, he still raved about Ceballos, describing the midfielder as “a player who has excellent qualities and an incredible mentality”, as quoted in The London Evening Standard in May 2020.

Ceballos is a squad player at Madrid and is not a regular starter for Los Blancos, and that is unlikely to change even under new manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

There is always speculation on the future of Ceballos, who turned down a move to Marseille in the summer of 2025.

The Spanish press continues to link Ceballos with Real Betis, his former club, but it is hard to see the midfielder leave in the January transfer window.

Ceballos is a very valuable squad player whose experience will be important for Madrid in the second half of the season.

The 29-year-old has been at Madrid since 2017, and the Spaniard seems to be happy with his status at Estadio Bernabeu.

While Ceballos and Emery have mutual admiration for each other, it is hard to envisage the midfielder pushing for a move away from Madrid, who themselves have no reason to let one of their first-team players leave now.

Meanwhile, sources have told TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, that a West Ham United star has turned down both Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa and has agreed to join another club.

Our transfer insider, Dean Jones, has reported that Aston Villa have ramped up their pursuit of a striker following AS Roma’s interest in one of their own forwards.