REAL BETIS left-back Alex Moreno is set to become Unai Emery’s first signing for Aston Villa.
The 29-year-old Spaniard remained in Seville while his Betis teammates travelled to Saudi Arabia to compete for the revamped Spanish Super Cup, where they face Barcelona in Thursday’s semi-final.
Villa are confident they will tie up a £12.5million deal for a player – regarded by many as the best uncapped player in La Liga – in the next 24 hours.
Emery wants Moreno to add some defensive quality to his back four as he moves away from the Steven Gerrard, Michael Beale model which preferred attacking full-backs to play high and provide width.
Emery prefers his full-backs to be more defensively sound and support the attack from deeper positions.
Moreno’s arrival will raise doubts over the future of Lucas Digne who cost Villa £25million from Everton last year as well as his back-up Ludwig Augustinsson, who started against Stevenage in Sunday’s FA Cup humiliation.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Nottingham Forest failed to land Moreno for £9million last summer, only to perform an 11th hour U-turn after Betis fans begged him to stay.
However Emery’s interest in him sparked a change of heart by the Spaniard who won the Copa del Rey with Betis last season.
The defender has made 121 appearances for Betis in all competitions since signing from Rayo Vallecano for £6m in 2019 on a five-year-deal.
Now Betis look set to accept double their money on their left-back who has made 15 La Liga appearances this season, although Vallecano are entitled to a percentage of the cash.
Most read in Football
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
The defender is set to join a Villa side currently being revived by Emery who has made an instant impact since replacing Steven Gerrard.
The former Arsenal boss began his reign before the World Cup and started with stunning league wins against Manchester United and then Brighton.
Villa then lost on Boxing Day to Liverpool before a brilliant win at Tottenham.
The only major negative of Emery’s time in charge so far was yesterday’s shock FA Cup defeat to League 2 Stevenage.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
