Yahoo Sport 
I think Aston Villa star is in the form of his life after £50m transfer challenge
Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne is probably in the form of his life.
Having returned to the France national team earlier this campaign, the 31-year-old is at the peak of his powers and has shown his quality under Emery since the start of last season. When the Spaniard was appointed head coach two years ago, he wanted "more in everything" from Digne.
The arrival of Alex Moreno from Real Betis for £13m forced Digne to make the improvements Emery highlighted to him after being replaced in the starting XI. After Moreno's hamstring injury at the end of the 2022/23 season, a place in the XI was Digne's to lose and he took the opportunity with both hands.
READ MORE: Konsa, Torres, Onana: Aston Villa injury latest and return dates ahead of Crystal Palace clash
READ MORE: Manager makes ‘win-win' plea to Aston Villa ahead of imminent transfer decision
READ | Konsa, Torres, Onana: Aston Villa injury latest and return dates ahead of Crystal Palace clash
READ | The inside story behind that famous Aston Villa banner
Moreno made a transformational impact on the Villa side, helping the club return to European football under Emery via a seventh-placed finish to secure Europa Conference League football. But Digne wasn't going to let him take his shirt for a second time and saw off his competition last season.
He has arguably been Villa's most consistent player in the last 15 months and is now keeping £37.5m signing Ian Maatsen out of the team too. The Champions League finalist with Borussia Dortmund is yet to start a Premier League match for Villa despite impressing in the appearances he has made either from off the bench or from the off in other competitions.
Digne's strong start to the season was rewarded with a call-up to Les Bleus for the September internationals. He has kept his place in the side since then and put in a stunning performance on Sunday night against Italy.
The left-back crashed in a free-kick from around 25 yards and produced two assists in France's 3-1 win at the San Siro.
Rating Digne’s performance as 8 out of 10 and naming him as Player of the match, FootMercato wrote: “He had a big opportunity to play with this new start, and the Aston Villa player more than made it profitable. He made a decisive corner pass in the third minute of the game with a superb centre for Rabiot, and then again in the second period with a free kick, again for Rabiot.
“But the highlight of the show remains his extraordinary free kick (granted to Vicario against his camp), from more than 30 metres, six years after the last one scored by a player from the French team (Pogba against Russia in 2018). Defensively, he also held his rank by putting Di Lorenzo out of harm’s way.”
