Aston Villa set to rival Arsenal for £50m playmaker after scouting him last week

• EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey

Unai Emery has established Aston Villa as one of the best sides in the country since joining in November 2022.

Aston Villa finished inside the top four last term and are ♐plying their trade in the Champions League༒ this season.

They’ve made a productive start this term, too, a꧙s they reside ju⛄st one point adrift of third-placed Chelsea.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	11	9	1	1	21	6	15	28
2	Man CityManchester City	11	7	2	2	22	13	9	23
3	ChelseaChelsea	11	5	4	2	21	13	8	19
4	ArsenalArsenal	11	5	4	2	18	12	6	19
5	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	11	5	4	2	15	10	5	19
6	BrightonBrighton	11	5	4	2	19	15	4	19
7	FulhamFulham	11	5	3	3	16	13	3	18
8	NewcastleNewcastle	11	5	3	3	13	11	2	18
9	Aston VillaAston Villa	11	5	3	3	17	17	0	18
10	TottenhamTottenham	11	5	1	5	23	13	10	16
11	BrentfordBrentford	11	5	1	5	22	22	0	16
12	B’mouthBournemouth	11	4	3	4	15	15	0	15

Attention is already starting to turn towards the January transfer w❀indow as they look to bolster their ranks.

Emery is keen to add another playmaker to his squad and TBR Football can now confirm they scouted one last week.

• READ MORE: Arsenal and Liverpool staᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚrs react to Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne’s performance for Fဣrance vs Italy

Aston Villa scout Arsenal target Alex Baena

TBR Football understands that Aston Villa were present in Copenhagen last week to see wing target Alex Baena start for Spain against Denmark.

Baena was given the nod with Lamine Yamal out injured and Nico Williams on the bench. The Villarreal star featured for an ꦐhour in the Parken before being forced off through injury.

Baena is a player that Emery rates extremely highly from their time together at Villarreal and they have✃ keep tabs on him constantly.

The Spaniard has already registered six goal involvements in🐭 11 LaLiga outings so far this season and that’s put a number of other clubs on red alert.

• READ MORE: Aston Villa staಞr set to retur🅘n to B6 after suffering injury on international duty

Aston Villa face competition from Arsenal for Baena

Aston Villa are set to face stiff competition for Baena’s signature as he’s al🌃so on the radar of Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Newcastle United over the last 12-months.

The 23-year-old has a release clause of around £50million and is tied to Villarreal until 2028, so it won’t be an easy deal to🍬 do.

LaLiga giants ꩲBarcelona and Atletico Madrid are also known admirers of the seven-cap👍 international.

• READ MORE: Dominic Solanke and Jack Grealish message Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers in wake of E♏ngland debut