Aston Villa Transfer News: Emery wants familiar face after Gallagher snub

Aston Villa have reportedly already identified their next target after failing to bring Conor Gallagher to Villa Park.

Gallagher recently signed for Spurs, with the north Londoners winning the transfer battle after securing a £35m deal with Atletico Madrid.

Villa have already been active in the January window after a relatively quiet summer, with Alysson and Brian Madjo joining in the last couple of weeks.

But it appears that a midfielder remains high on Unai Emery’s wishlist as he looks to revive the Villans’ unlikely title tilt, with the West Midlanders trailing leaders Arsenal by just six points in the Premier League.

And the Spaniard is thought to be looking at one of his former players to bolster the Villa midfield.

According to Fichajes, Emery is keen on bringing former Arsenal loanee Dani Ceballos to Aston Villa, with the 29-year-old’s first-team opportunities dwindling at Real Madrid.

Ceballos was signed by Emery at the start of his second season in north London, but within a few months, the Gunners had relieved him of his duties.

Successor Mikel Arteta would retain the services of Ceballos, who went on to win two Champions Leagues following his return to Real Madrid.

Ceballos impressed early on in his Arsenal career, with his club noting how he ‘stole the show’ during his full debut against Burnley in August 2019.

However, he didn’t exactly shine overall in the English top flight, failing to score in the league during his two years at Arsenal.

But given how he worked his way into Real Madrid’s plans, particularly under Carlo Ancelotti, he may be keen to move now that starts have been hard to come by – he’s begun just four of Los Blancos’ La Liga matches this term.

While he is said to be valued at around €10-20m (£8.7-17.3m), Real Madrid are not thought to be keen on letting useful squad players like Ceballos go.

However, Fichajes’ report did claim that Villa remain optimistic, provided that they can persuade Ceballos to make the move with the promise of more minutes.

Graduated in Sport Journalism (BA) with first-class honours from the University of Brighton and has since had bylines in The Times, sports business publication SportsPro, Football FanCast and The Gooner fanzine.