Aston Villa rated as closest competition to Atletico Madrid in race for La Liga playmaker | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid are expected to be busy during the summer transfer window, and they have their eyes on a very important deal for Alex Baena, who is considered to be one of their leading targets.

Baena has been a standout player in La Liga over the last couple of seasons, having racked up eight goals and 21 assists since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. He is undoubtedly one of Villarreal’s most important players, but there is a considerable chance that he ends up leaving La Ceramica in the summer.

Baena, who turned down a big-money move to Saudi Arabia during the winter transfer window, has already instructed his representatives to speak to Atleti earlier this season, and as per Ruben Uria (via ED), more productive discussions have taken place in recent days.

Image via Cordon Press

The same report also reveals that Aston Villa are prepared to compete with Atleti to sign Baena. Unai Emery knows all about the talented playmaker from his time as head coach of Villarreal, and he is keen to be reunited with him at the Premier League club.

Villarreal do not want to lose Baena this summer, but they may be resigned to doing so – even if they manage to qualify for next season’s Champions League via finishing inside La Liga’s top five places. They would ideally want to hold out for the €60m release clause in the 23-year-old’s contract, although they are reportedly prepared to accept closer to €50m, which would still be a record sale.

It will be very interesting to see how Baena’s situation plays out over the summer. Atletico Madrid will fancy their chances of signing him, although they probably will not be able to compete financially with Aston Villa, and because of this, there is doubt to be plenty of doubt surrounding the matter.