We are excited to have journalist Dan Bardell from Sky Sports join us as our official Aston Villa columnist. Every week, he will provide his thoughts on the club’s most talked-about topics.
Dan Bardell would prefer that Lucas Digne stay at Aston Villa, given that Al-Hilal has shown a desire to sign him during the January transfer window.
On Friday, January 12, the French daily L’Equipe said on its website that the Saudi Pro League team had expressed interest in the 30-year-old.
According to reports, they are also considering a move for Raphael Guerreiro, with the Middle Eastern team looking to sign Digne, the defender for Villa, or the Bayern Munich fullback on a loan to buy agreement.
The France international’s current Villa Park salary is reportedly £163,000 per week, therefore Bardell thinks the Villans will likely examine his status in the summer and try to bring in someone on a lesser salary.
“He was a player I was not sure about in the summer and I felt like the move hadn’t worked out,” Bardell stated in an exclusive interview with Villa News. I felt defended since he wasn’t capable. But I can put up my hands and declare that he’s played football consistently this season and had a really excellent season.
Since Moreno has been sidelined, he has been a constant for Villa. I would actually be okay for him staying; I wouldn’t want him to go because, while I believe he and Moreno offer different things, they’re both solid left-back choices.
“I know there are some connections to Marcos Acuna, and I believe something was quite close to that in the summer because Villa anticipated Lucas Digne would play, but I would be very hesitant to do that in the race for spots. With his rise to prominence and his strong season, I wouldn’t want him to leave.
Because he’s playing regular football, I don’t think he’ll want to go either. It’s possible to argue that he’s currently my first choice left back, and I have missed him when he’s not been available—something I never would have predicted six months ago. I figured he was probably done at Villa, so all credit to him.
“The sole challenge lies in the fact that Villa’s large salary may lead them to believe that they can eventually find someone who can perform the same type of work for less money.
“I believe that would definitely be something to review over the summer. That is not something I would anticipate occurring in January.
