Date: 25th May 2022 at 12:31pm
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As per David Ornstein of The Athletic, Aston Villa are exploring the possibility of bringing Sevilla centre-back Diego Carlos to Villa Park this summer.

The Lowdown: Villa need defensive reinforcements

With the news that Ezri Konsa’s injury could mean that he will miss the beginning of next season, Steven Gerrard will be hoping that he can add some defensive reinforcements to his side for the next campaign.

Villa have previously been linked with Calvin Bassey and James Tarkowski, but it appears Gerrard and his scouting team are willing to keep their options open.

The Latest: Villa will need to move players on first

Though the report in The Athletic states that Villa are interested in the Brazilian centre-back, it would probably take multiple departures for the club to justify spending the money on his transfer fee and wages.

The gold-medal-winning centre-back at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is valued at £40.5m by Transfermarkt and has two years remaining on his deal, meaning that Sevilla may not feel under pressure to sell just yet.

But should Villa free up some space and money in their budget, a move for the 29-year-old is not out of the question.

The Verdict: Money better off spent elsewhere

Speaking on a La Liga transfer podcast (via Liverpool Echo), Spanish football analyst Domagoj Kostanjšak described Carlos’ physical attributes.

“He’s a really physical player – he’s built like a tank and they don’t call him ‘The Beast’ for no reason,” said Kostanjšak.

Whilst the Brazilian’s physical attributes may be well suited to Premier League football, you’d suspect that Villa’s money may be better off spent elsewhere.

When compared with fellow Villa transfer target Tarkowski, who is available as a free agent in the summer, Carlos’ stats don’t justify paying north of £40m.

According to FBref, Carlos has tackled 47 players this season, compared to Tarkowski’s 71 tackles.

Carlos’ pressure success rate is slightly higher, with 80 successful presses from an attempted 202, whilst Tarkowski has been successful with 94 presses from an attempted 261, according to the same stats provider.

One way in which the Brazilian outperforms the current Burnley man is his rate of passing out from the back, in which he has an 88.3% completion rate from an attempted 2,142 passes, whilst Tarkowski only has a 71.6% success rate from just 1,120 attempted passes.

Whilst Carlos’ stats suggest that he may be more successful than the out-of-contract Tarkowski, for the sake of £40m plus, Villa may be tempted to go for the already-proven Premier League performer.

With Bassey likely to be inbound, it would be exciting to see Carlos follow suit this summer.

In other news, Villa are now eyeing up a player Steven Gerrard has previously worked with

 

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