Aston Villa Step Up Their Interest In One Of Europe’s Next Big Stars
Aston Villa are gunning for a Champions League birth, and they stand more than a fighting chance of completing the unlikely feat this season if they can hold off a stiff challenge from Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham.
Under Unai Emery, Villa have been on a shuttle-like ascent up the Premier League ladder, qualifying for the Conference League ahead of Spurs last season before taking another huge leap forward in 2023/24.
After signing more top talents like Moussa Diaby, Aston Villa clearly aren’t going to sit around and be complacent, as Emery’s club is being linked to more great young players around the continent.
The latest player to be linked to Villa is none other than Athletic Club left winger Nico Williams, who also stars for a team nicknamed “The Lions”.
Athletic are the Lions of the Basque Country and perennial European football contenders in Spain, with the younger Williams (LaLiga legend Iñaki is his older brother) breaking out as their star man these last two seasons.
Per a report from transfer insider Dean Jones, Aston Villa will show more urgency in the pursuit of the Athletic Bilbao man, because they are worried of falling behind if other top clubs show greater interest of their own.
Already, Williams has been linked to London-based Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Arsenal, and you’d think that Barcelona would also be interested within LaLiga. Real Madrid are bringing in Kylian Mbappé to join Rodrygo Goes and Vinícius Júnior, so they may be out of the picture anyway.
Williams is 21 years old but has quickly become one of the stars of Spanish football, notching 8 assists with 2.6 dribbles completed per match as a dynamic wide creator for the Lions of LaLiga.
Just scratching the surface of what he can become, the U23 standout has all the tools to become a star in the Premier League and join Aston Villa as their latest top-class attacking talent. He can develop into one of the best wingers in Europe, if he isn’t at that status now.
