Aston Villa have been told that they need to pay £40m if they are to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace this month.
Aston Villa beat Newcastle United 2-0 on Sunday to boost their Premier League title hopes, with Unai Emery’s side only four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
The Villans are also top of the Europa League group phase, so they will likely have a lot to play for in the final stages of this season.
Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that they are looking to improve their squad this month, with their priority to sign a striker to fill the void left by Donyell Malen.
A report from Football Insider claims they are ‘closing in’ on ex-Chelsea star Tammy Abraham, who is currently on loan at Besiktas.
Villa are also linked with Palace standout Mateta, with reporter Pete O’Rourke explaining that Palace ‘will accept a £40m offer’ for the forward this month.
“Look, it’s a difficult one for Crystal Palace right now, they’ve had so much upheaval in the last couple of weeks,” O’Rourke told Football Insider.
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“They’ve turned down a loan with an obligation from Juventus that didn’t suit Crystal Palace, and now Aston Villa are sniffing around seeing if there’s a possibility of it being done as well.
“It’d have to be a huge fee, you’re probably looking at around 40 million which is lower because of his contract situation.
“I think Palace will do everything they can to try keep hold of the player and then they’ll have to reassess the situation in the summer.
“It looks more and more likely that Mateta will leave Palace, but they will try and persuade him to stay until the summer and then they’ll open the door for the Frenchman to leave the club.
“I just think right now with everything that’s gone on at Palace, they can’t really afford to let their top goalscorer leave as well.”
Villa could also sanction exits to raise funds in this window and the summer, with No.1 Emiliano Martinez still linked with a move elsewhere.
O’Rourke has also claimed that they have ‘set’ an optimistic ‘price’ of £40m for Martinez, who has declined over the past 18 months.
“We thought he was going to leave in the summer window, we had those scenes in the last game of the season at Villa Park,” O’Rourke added.
“Obviously a move didn’t materialise in the summer window, but he’s one of the top goalkeepers in the world and its no surprise clubs are looking at him.
“We know that Inter Milan are going to be in the market for a new goalkeeper come next summer because Yan Sommer is out of contract and Martinez would tick a lot of boxes for them.
“It won’t be an easy deal to do due to probably the fee Villa would look for him would be pretty high.
“He’s under contract until 2029 so you’d be looking around £30-40million plus probably for a player like Martinez, who is one of the big earners at Villa Park.
“Wages could be an issue for them as well in that respect but I’m sure a project like Inter will be appealing to somebody like Martinez.“
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