Aston Villa have seen one of their reported transfer targets close in on a move to a different club.
According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Napoli have agreed terms with Hellas Verona for Cyril Ngonge. An €18m deal plus add-ons has been agreed and now negotiations are ongoing for the player to agree terms.
According to Get Italian Football News, Napoli has “all but sealed” a move for Ngoge, which would have disappointed Villa if they had a legitimate interest in a transfer.
It was claimed in Italy that Villa was “on the brink” of signinge Ngongfor an estimated £8.7 million; however, it appears that this is no longer the case, and the price has increased significantly. Ngonge is rumoured to have had talks about a potential signing with seven-time Champions League winners AC Milan, but he may now choose to join the current Serie A winners.
The 23-year-old has had a successful debut in Italy with six goa
ls and two assists in 19 games this season for Hellas. He joined Verona in January after leaving Dutch team FC Groningen, and in 36 games with his new team, he has scored 11 goals.
This month, Unai Emery acknowledged that he would like to do some business; however, Villa has implemented a one-in, one-out policy and is striving to stay within the parameters of Financial Fair Play. Villa will not conduct business for the sake of doing business, and its Premier League rivals Everton and Nottingham Forest will pay the consequences for their failure to adhere to the FFP guidelines.
Being an all-around striker, Ngonge might have been taken more seriously if Jhon Duran had left this month, but it appears likely that he will stay. There have been rumours that Duran wants to leave Villa Park, but Emery has stated that he wants to keep him in the Midlands.
“He is playing and he is being important, he is young,” Duran’s future was questioned about by Emery.
“He is here sharing experiences with us, and we need experiences. We need to try to have two players per position in our squad so that we can be strong, which means we need a second striker. Watkins and Jhon Duran are involved. He and I collaborate a lot, and he is becoming more and more committed.
Calum Chambers and Bertrand Traore have both been made available for transfer, but Jhon Duran may remain at Villa. Traore is presently representing Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Chambers has not been included in the Villa first team.
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