Aston Villa are set to face stiff competition from fellow Champions League hopefuls Tottenham for a transfer target this summer.
Aston Villa and Tottenham’s battle rolls on
We are now firmly in the business end of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool are the teams drawing much of the attention amid their three-way title race, but just below them in the table is a heated battle to secure Champions League football for next season. Manchester United’s inconsistent form across the campaign has all but ruled them out of the race, with the final spot in the top-four set to go to Aston Villa or Tottenham.
Unai Emery’s side currently sit 5th in the division after 32 games – which could also be enough to get a spot in Europe’s premier competition. The Midlands outfit have spent much of the season in the coveted 4th spot, but one win in five has allowed Spurs to overtake them this month.
However, Villa are only behind Tottenham (who have a game in hand) via goal difference for the time being, with the pair’s remaining fixtures making it tough to call who will end 2023/24 in the last top-four spot.
Aston Villa remaining PL fixtures | Tottenham remaining PL fixtures |
|---|---|
Arsenal vs Aston Villa (April 14) | Newcastle vs Tottenham (April 13) |
Aston Villa vs Bournemouth (April 21) | Tottenham vs Manchester City (TBD) |
Aston Villa vs Chelsea (April 27) | Tottenham vs Arsenal (April 28) |
Brighton vs Aston Villa (May 4) | Chelsea vs Tottenham (May 2) |
Aston Villa vs Liverpool (May 11) | Liverpool vs Tottenham (May 5) |
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa (May 19) | Tottenham vs Burnley (May 11) |
N/A | Sheffield United vs Tottenham (May 19) |
It is not just on the field were Aston Villa and Tottenham are going head-to-head, though. Reports back in January claimed Tottenham were eyeing up a move for Aston Villa forward, Jacob Ramsey, with the Villans potentially needing to sell some homegrown talent to generate pure profit and balance the books this summer.
As for their own transfer business, Aston Villa have been named as one of several Europe-chasing teams to be showing an interest in Wolves centre-back Max Kilman.
Aston Villa and Tottenham eyeing free agent
Now, HITC are reporting that Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham and Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are among the Premier League clubs keeping tabs on Wilfred Ndidi’s contract situation at Leicester City. Ndidi joined Leicester in January, 2017, from Belgian outfit Genk for a fee of around £15m. He has since notched 267 appearances for the Foxes and has been crucial in their promotion push this term.
However, the 27-year-old is out of contract in the summer, leading to all of Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Brighton and Wolves being credited with an interest in him. HITC add that even if Leicester secure promotion to the Premier League this season, they are looking increasingly likely to lose Ndidi for nothing this summer.
Whoever ends up signing the Nigerian this summer will secure themselves a quality, Premier League-proven talent, but they will also likely have to hand Ndidi a sizable contract. The midfielder currently earns £75,000-a-week with Leicester and if he is to leave on a free, he will be in a much better position to demand a high salary from his new club.
