Aston-Villa-Marcos-Acuna-Premier-LeagueLast year, Aston Villa sporting director Monchi hoped to reunite with defender Marcos Acuna in the Midlands.
Monchi attempted to renew Acuna’s contract by bringing him to Spanish club Sevilla, with the player himself making a move, with Unai Emery publicly expressing his admiration for the “great” player.
However, Sevilla felt Villa’s offer was insufficient and Acuna was angered by Villa’s rejection of the offer.
Six months on, the Argentine is still linked with Emery’s side, considering the sale of Lucas Digne this summer.
Digne is one of Villa’s top earners on £120,000-a-week and the club admit sacking him could be a smart financial move.
Acuna could be his replacement and there is encouraging news in that regard.Akuna receives the necessary approvals.According to Vamos Mi Sevilla,
Acuna could now leave this month. As he enters the final 18 months of his contract, the La Liga club have decided the time is right to let him go, with all parties now scrambling to “find a move”.
He is expected to leave in the summer unless a move is made in January.
Marcos AcunaAcuna’s relationship with the club appears to have been somewhat rocky and has been further strained by Villa’s recent decision to reject the offer.
So the door is open for Emery to move up. Acuna suits Emery’s needs, but discipline is an issue.
Acuna, now 32, joined Sevilla from Sporting in 2020 and has since made 135 appearances for the club, including a Europa League win in the 2022/23 season.
Although they did not progress to the final due to elimination, they were named in the competition team of the season.
Although he capped a great year with Argentina winning the World Cup, this season has been much more difficult.
Injuries have limited him to eight top-flight appearances so far, although he has missed 10 league games.
But where appropriate, Acuna follows Emery’s stylistic rules.
As noted by The Athletic, the Spaniard wants a left-back who can “rotate mainly from half-back in possession” and his experienced target is a left-back who has played over 150 games in an advanced position .
In the 2021/22 season, he fully demonstrated his potential as an attacking defender by ranking 4th in the league with 178 crosses and 2nd in the region with completed crosses (27).
That production helped propel him into the league’s top XI. However, if he were in Digne’s place, he would have big boots to fill.
Of all defenders in the Premier League this year, only Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier (6.0), Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (4.2) and Tottenham’s Pedro Foro (4.1) had a rating of assist expected higher than Digne (2.7).
Also, stand in line. 5th in key assists (29). Only Trippier found a teammate with more crosses (14 vs 13).A concern with Acuna is discipline.
No player was banned from Europe’s top five leagues last season (three times) and has received 33 yellow cards since arriving at Sevilla.
If he is sacked or suspended, it could put Villa in a difficult position, which would disappoint their fans.
