EXCLUSIVE: Aston Villa seriously weighing up January move to sign Atletico Madrid World cup winning fullback as Unai Emery looks to strengthen right back position amidst concerns over Matty Cash
Aston Villa have had a better season than many could have possibly expected and are sitting merely three points off the top of the Premier League heading into the new year.
However, while head coach Unai Emery will be delighted with his players’ performances this season, the Spanish coach may still feel as though one or two areas could be strengthened in January, with the window set to open in just a few days.
One player in particular could be Emery’s saving grace this winter and would improve Villa’s backline immensely, although the signing will certainly come at a price.
As per reports in Spain back in October, Aston Villa had emerged as the front-runners to sign Atletico Madrid fullback Nahuel Molina in January. Furthermore, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently revealed in November that the Villans have earmarked Molina as a target in the right back position.
The Argentine defender moved to the Spanish capital from Serie A club Udinese at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign for a reported £17.3m fee. Since then, Molina has helped guide Atletico to a third-place finish last season and even picked himself up a World Cup winner’s medal midway through the term with Argentina in Qatar.
Molina was Argentina’s first-choice right-back in the Middle East last winter and scored a goal in the quarter-finals as the South American side eventually beat the Netherlands on penalties en route to glory.
As a result of his superb performances over the past twelve to eighteen months, Molina’s market value has soared to over £50m.
One area of Aston Villa’s team that Emery has tried to mask the deficiencies of over the past few months is at right-back. The manager predominantly deploys Matty Cash on the right side of the back four during games against weaker opposition. However, when tasked with facing stronger opponents, such as Manchester United, Cash drops to the bench.
Emery prefers having a more defensive player in that position against the top teams, hence why Ezri Konsa has been asked to fill in as a right-back multiple times this season already, including during Villa’s Boxing Day defeat to Manchester United.
Then, in theory, Emery will use Cash against teams with less quality than Villa, such as Sheffield United. However, the Poland international has struggled in recent weeks to offer anything on the right flank. In the 1-1 draw to the Blades last week, Cash lost possession of the ball 25 times and was handed a 4/10 match rating by Birmingham World for his errant display.
This season, Molina has been much better offensively and defensively than Cash and looks to be a clear upgrade on the Aston Villa fullback, having outperformed his counterpart across a string of metrics.
Emery doesn’t trust Cash to start in big games so signing a new right-back could be of paramount importance for Villa in January. While Molina will be expensive, he’ll certainly be worth the money.
