Aston Villa told the reasons why they were denied spectacular summer transfer
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says Aston Villa tried to do a deal for Jonathan David this summer, but explained why it was a non-starter.
Villa were linked with the Lille forward in the summer and he was widely tipped to leave France for the Premier League. Chelsea and Manchester United were among the clubs who were keeping tabs on the New York-born forward who has scored 72 league goals in 148 games. And Romano revealed how Villa were keen on the 24-year-old whose current market value is around £50m.
But he said the reasons the move didn't happen was because they could not reach an agreement with the player or his club.
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Writing on his daily briefing, Romano said: "While it is too early to predict what might happen next summer, when Jonathan David's contract expires at Lille, we can explain what happened with him this summer, which could provide some hints.
"David was one of the players that was most enquired about this summer, from many teams. It looked like Aston Villa would go after him with everything they had, but the deal never came off because they could not find an agreement with either the player or the club."
Lille club Olivier Letang said he would have allowed David to leave Lille during the summer, but said in an interview last month.
"I’m not going to make promises today that I can’t keep, but it’s true that the further we go, the more likely it is to keep him (David) with us,” Letang told RMC Sport (h/t Ouest France ).
“I said last week that he could leave if, and only if, we were able to replace him. The closer we get to the end of the transfer window, the more complicated it is to find a high-quality striker like Jonathan. We have the ability to keep him, because we are not under pressure from an economic point of view.
“We are very happy to have him. He is very happy to be with us, very happy to be at the club, with what he is experiencing. I would say that anything is possible.”