Breaking: Aston Villa complete second January transfer as defender signs on
Aston Villa have completed the signing of right-back Andres Garcia from Levante.
The fee Villa have paid to land the 21-year-old is around £6m, while reports in Spain claim that Levante hold a sell-on clause. Unai Emery had considered several right-back options this month, but alongside Monchi and Damian Vidagany, he opted to recruit Garcia in what could prove to be a shrewd move.
Born in Valencia, Garcia joined Levante’s youth side in 2021 from Inter San Jose. He made his debut for the Levante first-team in January 2023 in the Copa del Ray, but didn’t establish himself as a regular in the side until last season.
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This term, he has started 22 of the club’s 23 La Liga 2 matches, only missing their most recent game against Grenada because he was on course to complete his move to Villa. He has scored three goals and recorded the same number of assists.
Villa’s first signing was Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund as he joined in a deal worth around £20m. Villa remain in the market to add a centre-back to the squad as Diego Carlos closes in on a move to Fenerbahce.
Carlos is due to enter the final 12 months of his deal with Villa in the summer and was available for transfer back in August. Once he departs, Villa are expected to push to sign Sevilla centre-back Loic Bade.
Bade signed a long-term deal with the Spanish club last year, but Sevilla are open to selling him for the right price. While sporting director at Sevilla, Monchi signed the defender on loan from Stade Rennais in January 2023.
