Report: Villa set to sign 24-year-old Arsenal target on a club-record deal

Report: Villa set to sign 24-year-old Arsenal target on a club-record deal – originally posted on Sportslens.com

Aston Villa are set to sign Emiliano Buendia from Norwich City. 

According to reports from The Mirror, Villa are set to complete the signing of Buendia in the next few days.

The news would come as a big blow to Arsenal who are also interested in signing the Norwich City winger. In fact, the Gunners have already submitted a bid for Buendia.

The 24-year-old was named the Championship player of the season after helping the Canaries secure promotion last season with 15 goals and 16 assists.

Understand Aston Villa have moved ahead in the pursuit of Emi Buendia. They are closer to meeting Norwich’s demands.

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) June 5, 2021

The report claims that Villa are set to complete the formalities within the next 72 hours. Villa had a bid accepted already and they opened talks with the player.

Last summer Villa paid around £28m (plus add-ons) to sign Ollie Watkins from Brentford. Should the deal for Buendia go through, it will eclipse the transfer fee Villa paid for Watkins.

According to journalist, Cesar Luis Merlo, Villa will pay in the region of 35 million Euros (£30m) for the highly-rated Argentine.

Emiliano Buendia, a un paso del Aston Villa.
*⃣La operación se encuentra muy avanzada y se hará en una cifra cercana a los 35 millones de euros.
*⃣El Arsenal, que también lo quería, nunca llegó a hacer una oferta oficial al Norwich. pic.twitter.com/W5Z8zWpapA

— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) June 5, 2021

Buendia has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal this summer but it seems he is now all set to become Villa boss Dean Smith’s first signing of the summer.

Villa ended the 2020-21 season poorly managing just three wins out of 12, where they were without their influential skipper Jack Grealish. Villa needed creativity, and Buendia will definitely provide that.

It will be interesting to see if Villa can hold on to Grealish who has been attracting interest from the two Manchester clubs.

Read: 26-year-old on his way to Leeds this summer.

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