Express & Star

Unai Emery eyeing winger during first Aston Villa transfer window

Unai Emery has confirmed he wants to bring a winger to Villa this month as the club push to sign Real Betis defender Alex Moreno.

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Aston Villa manager Unai Emery

The 29-year-old left-back would cost around £15million and talks between the clubs are thought to be ongoing, with Villa increasingly confident of striking a deal.

Emery also wants to recruit a forward who can provide his team with greater width. Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins are Villa’s two remaining senior strikers after Cameron Archer sealed a loan switch to Middlesbrough for the rest of the season.

The boss said: “We are trying to add some different characteristics into the squad. If we add someone, they will be different.

“When I arrived here, we decided we needed a winger, a specific winger. We need it and we are trying to find one.”

Leon Bailey is the only recognised winger in Villa’s squad after Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet were both sold and Bertrand Traore moved out on loan under Emery’s predecessor, Steven Gerrard.

Emery has so far preferred to use Bailey in a more central attacking role in support of either Ings or Watkins and wants an out-and-out wideman to provide greater flexibility.

Moreno is regarded as the best uncapped left-back in Spain and came close to joining Nottingham Forest last summer