THE £42M STAR SAYS HE’D REFUSE TO MOVE TO ASTON VILLA EVEN IF THEY DOUBLED HIS WAGE.
Fredrik Aursnes of Benfica claims he would have rejected down a £42 million move to Aston Villa even if the Premier League club offered to treble his pay.
While Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland are the faces of the national team right now, while Frederik Aursnes is not exactly a household name just yet, the former Feyenoord star’s outstanding performances throughout 2022/23 have caused some to wonder whether the Scandinavian nation now has not two, but three genuinely ‘world-class’ players at their disposal.
One of the most underrated footballers in all of Europe, it’s testament to Aursnes’ impact at Primeira Liga champions Benfica that the departure of Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea midway through last term was not – as some had suggested – a fatal blow to their title ambitions.
Far from it, in fact.
The late-blooming 27-year-old played his way onto Aston Villa’s radar, according to Record. Even if an ambitious, deep-pocketed Villa side had triggered Aursnes’ contract’s £42 million release clause while promising to double his income, the one-time Molde star would not have been in a hurry to go.
Aston Villa are unable to entice Fredrik Aursnes away from Benfica.
“I was aware of the rumors. But I don’t think there was anything else to it,” Aursnes now tells TV2.
“No way (I would have joined Aston Villa).” I doubt it would have been appealing. Money is meaningless. I’m content in Benfica.
“No way (I would have joined Aston Villa).” I doubt it would have been appealing. Money is meaningless. I’m content in Benfica.
“I am extremely happy where I am right now, and there is nothing I could think of replacing Benfica with right now.” (Leaving) is not something I’m considering right now. Benfica is a magnificent club, and I would not trade it for anything.”
Villa still has a long way to go.
Aston Villa signed four high-profile players this summer in Moussa Diaby, Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres, and Clement Lenglet, but their inability to recruit a slew of other big-name targets demonstrated how far Unai Emery’s team still has to go.
Instead, Marco Asensio and Manuel Ugarte chose PSG. Meanwhile, Nico Williams will sign a new contract with Athletic Bilbao despite being offered £115,000 a week at Villa Park.
