Aston Villa Push For Defender As He Weighs His Options | OneFootball

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Aston Villa are pushing hard to sign Atletico Madrid defender Matteo Ruggeri and the player is weighing his options before making a final decision on his future.

Unai Emery wants to beef up and add quality to several areas of his squad, as his team will be in the Champions League this season.

Villa, however, have seen a host of players depart Villa Park this summer, with Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemens and Donyell Malen leaving.

It has been suggested that left-back Lucas Digne will also leave this summer after four years with Villa, as Paris Saint-Germain are set to become his next destination.

The Frenchman’s imminent departure will leave Emery with a shortage of options in his left-back department with 24-year-old Ian Maatsen as the only senior option available in the team.

Villa boss Emery turned to bring in a familiar face, AC Milan’s Pervis Estupian, who he has worked with at Villarreal before, to fill the gap in the left-back area and it was suggested that the deal was in the final stages .

However, new AC Milan boss Ruben Amorim decided to take a look at Estupian during pre-season before making a final decision on his future, with a move to Villa stalled.

The Birmingham outfit now have turned their attention to Spain as they want to sign Atletico Madrid’s 24-year-old left-back Ruggeri in the ongoing window.

Villa are pushing hard to make the deal happen and Ruggeri is currently weighing his options in the market before he commits to his future, according to Spanish daily Marca.

Ruggeri has suitors in the market in the form of Juventus and Roma, but Aston Villa, in the hope of stealing a march on the Italian’s suitors, have made a ‘determined move’ for the player.

Villa want to get the deal over the line immediately and Ruggeri’s representatives Tullio Tinti and Manuel Montipo held a meeting with Atletico Madrid’s director of football Mathew Almeny and were present at the training facility to watch 15 minutes of the training session where they saw their client being omitted from Diego Simeone’s starting lineup.

Atletico Madrid are also in favour of offloading Ruggeri, who joined them from Atalanta last season for €17m, as they are looking to generate funds to pursue other targets.

Last season, Ruggeri featured 47 times in all competitions the La Liga giants and while laying on seven assists.

Ruggeri has a contract with Atletico Madrid until 2030 and Aston Villa might have to dig deep in their pocket to land the Italian.