Aston Villa have seen their hopes of a big-money raid on Tottenham Hotspur for Dejan Kulusevski go up in smoke after Ange Postecoglou reached a very firm decision on the Swede and despite Gary Neville’s claims of just how much they could bank by selling the star.
Unai Emery’s side pipped Tottenham to the fourth and final Champions League spot last season and are gearing up for what they hope will be amother massive season of progress at Villa Park. Indeed, despite being forced to sell Douglas Luiz to Juventus to help comply with the Premier League’s strict Profit and Sustainability Rules, Aston Villa
have shown they are ready to spend big this summer as they look to make a major impact in Europe’s premier competition.To that end, Villa have wasted no time at all strengthening their squad, sealing eight signings already with Amadou Onana (£50m from Everton) and Ian Maatsen (£36.5m from Chelsea) the headline additions, alongside the returns of three familar faces in Jaden Philogene, Cameron Archer and Ross Barkley.
However, Villa appear far from done and, with Moussa Diaby pushing to seal a £50m transfer to Al-Ittihad, Emery and president of football operations, Monchi, are in the market for a top-class wing replacement.
Kulusevski, a €30m (£25.5m) signing from Juventus, initially on loan, in January 2022, has scored 15 times in 95 appearances for the Lilywhites so far.
As far as an asking price is concerned, Neville claims Spurs have in Kulusevski a player who, on his day, is one of the best around and worth in the £80m to £100m bracket.
Speaking last season when Kulusevski shone during a win at Nottingham Forest in which the player stood in for James Maddison playing in the No 10 role, Neville told Sky Sports: