Aston Villa’s generally impressive season continues.
On Saturday, the Claret and Blue Army beat Leicester 2-1, thanks to goals from Ross Barkley and then Leon Bailey, meaning they’re now unbeaten in ten Premier League home games, winning four of the last five.
Unai Emery’s team are currently eighth, a little bit lower than they’d surely have hoped, albeit the fact Villa are fifth in the gigantic Champions League table, on course to go straight through to the round of 16, means one has to cut them a bit of slack.
Nevertheless, continuing to juggle both continental and domestic commitments, the Villans will surely be looking to strengthen their squad in January, so it’s set to be a busy month in the Midlands.
Aston Villa lining up new wing-back
According to a report from Spain, Aston Villa are interested in signing Celta Vigo defender Óscar Mingueza, with Fabrizio Romano on Twitter adding that the Villans “have started talks to explore” the potential move.
It’s believed that Mingueza has a release clause of €20m (around £16.5m) although, as reported by others, they plan to negotiate in an attempt to secure his signature at a lower price or to avoid paying the entire fee up front.
Of course, both manager Emery as well as President of Football Operations Monchi know the Spanish market very well, so it’s no surprise they’ve looked to La Liga for reinforcements.
Mingueza is a La Masia graduate, joining Barcelona at the age of eight, making 66 appearances for Barça’s first-team, most-notably starting their Copa del Rey Final victory over Real Sociedad in April 2021, having scored in el Clásico at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano a week earlier, albeit in vain as Real Madrid prevailed 2-1 in the pouring rain.
However, after falling out of favour the following season under Xavi, Mingueza was sold to Celta Vigo for just €3m (£2.5m), albeit they do have a 50% sell-on clause, so the Catalan giants would earn a much-needed windfall should Villa secure their man.
Now 25-years-old, he’s made 82 appearances for O Celtiña, starting 16 of their 18 La Liga matches during this campaign so far, hence why Celta boss Claudio Giráldez will be determined not to lose him.
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How Mingueza could improve Aston Villa's defence
Mingueza is a very versatile player, predominantly deployed at right-wing-back in Celta Vigo’s 3-4-3, although he has filled in on the opposite side six times this season, including during their most-recent league fixture, a 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad at Balaídos just before Christmas.
His impressive club form saw him start Spain’s UEFA Nations League clash with Switzerland in Tenerife in November, just his second senior cap and first for over three years.
So, what could he offer Emery’s side? Well, European football expert Zach Lowy on Twitter notes that Mingueza began his senior career as a César Azpilicueta-esque centre-back/right-back “hybrid”, but has now become a “buccaneering wing-back” who can both “invert and push forward”.
Meantime, according to Data MB football’s performance index, Mingueza is the joint-second best-performing full-back in La Liga this season, behind only Jules Koundé of Barcelona.
So how does he compare to Aston Villa’s existing right-back Matty Cash?
Appearances
19
15
Minutes
1,499
1,148
Assists
5
0
Expected assists
4.3
0.4
Progressive carries
41
23
Passes attempted
1031
555
Pass completion %
75.8%
82%
Tackles
20
37
Blocks
15
11
Interceptions
10
15
Touches
1158
683
As outlined in the table, Mingueza and Cash are stylistically very different.
The Spaniard ranks significantly higher for attacking metrics, assists and progressive carries, helped by the fact he’s playing wing-back, while the data suggests Cash is more defensively solid, racking up more tackles and interceptions.
However, as outlined by Ahmed Walid of the Athletic, Villa’s width comes from their full-backs, suggesting Mingueza would be a good fit and potentially even an upgrade on their current options.
Also, Cash has already missed nine matches this season due to a hamstring and then a calf injury, leading to Ezri Konsa being forced to fill in at right-back on ten occasions already, with youngsters Lamare Bogarde and Kosta Nedeljković the only natural deputies.
Thus, as alluded to earlier, Villa’s Champions League commitments mean games will continue to come thick and fast, with right-back an obvious area in which a reinforcement would be helpful.
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