Aston Villa to seal second January transfer as medical booked for defender
Aston Villa are set to sign Levante right-back Andres Garcia for a fee of around £6m.
The 21-year-old currently operates in the second division in Spain with the Valencian club and has been catching the eye with a string of performances, especially recently. Garcia is a routine pick for Levante and has begun to deliver in the final third in recent weeks, too; since the end of November he has contributed three goals and produced two assists, helping his side up into fifth in La Liga 2 and with an ambition of returning to La Liga by the end of the season.
Garcia attracted the interest of Sporting Lisbon in Portugal and Spanish top-flight sides Real Betis and Sevilla. Though, Villa have won the race to sign the promising defender, who will shortly have a medical ahead of joining.
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Villa would like to loan out teenage defender Kosta Nedeljkovic, who they signed last January from Red Star Belgrade, this month in order to source more first-team minutes having found Matty Cash blocking his route to the Villa first-team.
Villa spent last January looking to the future, with the signings of Nedeljkovic, Morgan Rogers, Joe Gauci and Lino Sousa. This month they're expected to complete the signing of Turkish prodigy Yasin Ozcan from Kasimpasa for almost £7m and continue that trend of acting prudently in the winter market. Garcia would fall into a similar category.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery confirmed in Friday's press conference that Diego Carlos could leave Villa in this window with the club holding talks over his future. Sevilla centre-back Loic Bade is a prime target to replace Carlos in case he leaves.