Aston Villa Falling Behind Brighton In Race For Defender | OneFootball

Aston Villa are trailing fellow Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in the race for highly-rated Hellas Verona central defender Diego Coppola.

Unai Emery’s side missed out on Champions League qualification this season; they will be in the Europa League next term and must wheel and deal to stay within PSR rules.

They are now determined to build a squad that will be competitive in Europe and also help them finish in the Champions League spot next season.

A centre-back is high on Aston Villa boss Emery’s agenda for the summer, as he will be short in that area with only three options left in the form of Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings in that department.

A number of defenders are being looked at, including Lazio’s Alessio Romagnoli and Hellas Verona’s young centre-back Coppola; they have asked about Coppola.

However, they are not the only Premier League outfit interested as Brighton are also keen on Coppola and have also submitted an offer on the table for him.

The Seagulls are notorious for signing young talented players and Aston Villa are set to face stiff competition from them in their pursuit of Coppola.

According to Italian journalist Nicolo Schira, Brighton are currently leading the race for Coppola, who is also admired by Lazio as well.

The agency that represents Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri is the same which works for Coppola and it has boosted the Serie A outfit’s hopes.

It is still unclear if Coppola has a preference over his next destination.

The Birmingham outfit are also looking at Juventus star Federico Gatti, whose contract talks with the Bianconerri have stalled.

It is suggested that Juventus’ new general manager Damien Comolli is set to decide on Gatti’s future soon.