Unai Emery confirms interest in Villarreal star as transfer need increases for Aston Villa
Unai Emery has confirmed Aston Villa are trying to sign Juan Foyth from his former club Villarreal.
The 27-year-old defender is being targeted to replace Diego Carlos, who left for Fenerbahce in a deal worth £8.5m earlier in the window. Villa were knocked back in their attempts to sign primary target Loic Bade as the France international opted to stay at his club due to concerns over his role in Emery's squad.
"We are with Monchi and the club analysing different players and their profiles," Emery said when asked about Foyth. "I know Juan Foyth because I have worked with him. He is one player with his quality, he can play with the performance we want to add into the squad."
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Asked about Diego Carlos' exit, Emery said: "We are doing everything we can and we have to control everything that is in our hands. This transfer window is not easy and we didn’t want him to leave. But he decided to leave because he was accepting an offer from Turkey. We are trying to take these consequences, analysing and bringing in one centre-back to replace him. Still, there are days to decide how we can do it."
Villa's need for a new defender has increased after Tyrone Mings suffered a knee injury in the 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday night. Emery opted to bring Ian Maatsen on to replace Mings and shuffle Lucas Digne across to left centre-back instead.
However, Emery is hopeful that Mings' injury isn't anything serious, as he explained after full-time: "After the first test we did, I think it is not a relevant injury for a long time," Emery said. "Tomorrow we will test again and better. We will know how important his injury is. We are positive."
