- Aston Villa are trying to conclude another quality signing before the window closes.
- They have won the World Cup and could form a dangerous partnership with Pau Torres in defence.
- He ranks highly for plenty of attacking metrics.
Aston Villa were thrashed 5-1 by Newcastle on the opening weekend but the most disappointing news to come out of that game was a long-term injury to Tyrone Mings.
The 30-year-old centre-back suffered a serious injury which has sidelined him for the remainder of the season and left him requiring surgery.
Mings featured in all but three Premier League games last season, becoming a key player under Unai Emery.
With Villa facing the exciting but daunting prospect of juggling domestic and European football, defensive reinforcements are a must and a significant update has emerged regarding their chase of a World Cup-winning left back.
Aston Villa transfer news – What’s the latest?
According to Diario de Sevilla (via Sport Witness), Aston Villa have ‘made their move’ for Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna over the last week having seen two bids rejected, with the first being deemed ‘far too low’.
A third bid is reportedly in the pipeline, however, the Spanish giants are only open to a potential deal if they can secure the right price for the 31-year-old. It’s said a deal is now ‘getting closer’.
Acuna is open to a move to Villa, so if the correct price can be negotiated, the Argentinian will be Emery’s latest recruit.
How good is Marcos Acuna?
The “quality” Acuna – as dubbed by journalist Zach Lowy – has played for Sevilla since 2020, making 125 appearances and recording 18 goal involvements with the most joyous moments of his career coming in recent times.
From featuring in all but one of Argentina’s matches on their way to a World Cup triumph in Qatar to lifting the Europa League trophy in June, it’s fair to say that it’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Acuna.
With transfer links drawn towards the 5 foot 8 ace, Villa supporters would have kept a close eye on his performance in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday night.
Despite losing on penalties to Manchester City, the World Cup winner played a full 90 minutes and provided the assist for Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal, which was later cancelled out by Cole Palmer’s equaliser.
While Sevilla would have been disappointed by this defeat, Acuna was subject to high praise from Pep Guardiola when discussing Palmer’s future.
He said: “it’s not easy to play against defenders like [Marcos] Acuna, for example, who is a top defender.”
When one of the best managers in the world directs high praise towards a player, it’s difficult not to take notice, especially after a phenomenal 2022/23 season.
Acuna stands-out out in La Liga when comparing his attacking stats to his positional peers, ranking in the top 10% for non-penalty goals (0.14), expected assists (0.27), shot-creating actions (4.80), crosses (6.92) and key passes 1.79), via FBref.
With Alex Moreno and Lucas Digne to compete against in his position, those attacking stats, in particular, prove that he has the quality to challenge or perhaps even make that spot his own.
Having already signed a Europa League-winning defender in Pau Torres, adding Acuna to the ranks is a mouth-watering proposition with the pair looking tailor-made to form a strong partnership.
Torres happened to replace the aforementioned Mings in light of his horrendous injury against Newcastle and then made his first start against Everton on Sunday, keeping a clean sheet.
He won 100% of his aerial duels and completed 90% of his passes from a left centre-back berth, as per Sofascore.
Such a role could see him thrive alongside Acuna, with a solid and dependable left-sided combination set to emerge for Emery.
