Last week, it was revealed that Aston Villa are interested in signing former West Ham wide man Felipe Anderson, now at Lazio. Anderson is out of contract at the end of the season, which means Villa are free to negotiate a pre-contract deal with his camp.
Juventus are also interested in the Brazilian, but unlike Unai Emery's side, they're not officially allowed to engage his entourage in his negotiations, potentially handing Villa a key advantage. What's more, that's not the only potential Bosman deal under consideration behind the scenes at Villa Park, with another Serie A player on the club's radar.
Villa offered Spinazzola deal
According to Calciomercato, translated by Sport Witness, the agent of Leonardo Spinazzola has been in touch "in recent days" to offer his client to Aston Villa. The Premier League high-flyers are "sceptical" as it stands, but it sounds like they're at least weighing up the merits of recruiting the Roma man, and would be willing to do a deal if they can get him without a transfer fee.
Ex-Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs boss Jose Mourinho wants to bring the former Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu to the Stadio Olimpico, but he can't do that until he frees up space in the squad as Roma face "stringent Financial Fair Play requirements".
That's why the Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto is working with both Spinazzola and Renato Sanches to try and find acceptable suitors. The former has "no shortage of admirers" in Saudi Arabia, but he has little interest in moving away from European football, so you'd think Villa would be his preference.
Spinazzola's memorable Euro 2020 campaign
Left-back Spinazzola is probably best known on these shores for his performances for Italy during the last European Championships. He suffered an Achilles tendon rupture that ruled him out of the semifinal and the final against England, which Italy eventually won of course, but he'd been instrumental in getting them to that stage, starting four of their five games. Indeed, despite missing the business end of the tournament, he was named in the competition's best XI.
The stats suggest that inclusion was fair. Among all defenders involved, only Spain's Jordi Alba (21) recorded more shot creating-actions, only Denmark's Joakim Maehle carried the ball into the penalty more times (16 vs eight), and Spinazzola also ranked fifth in his position for touches in the area (15). This shows that he was a huge part of Italy's attacking threat.
The injury he sustained that summer kept him out until April 2022, and he's struggled to sustain his fitness since, suffering five separate lay-offs, albeit all short-term. That's part of the reason why he remains on 24 caps for Italy even at 30 years of age. Still, journalist Rahman Osman says he's a "delight" to watch when healthy, and he's maintained decent numbers despite being in and out of the team.
He notched eight direct goal contributions in 40 appearances last season, including three in the Europa League knockout stages as Roma reached the final, and has added four more in his 17 outings this term.
While Spinazzola's age and injury record do undoubtedly count against him, the gamble would be limited because Villa wouldn't be paying a penny in transfer fees. You could argue that, with Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno already in the squad, Villa should prioritise other areas, but the offer from the player's agent should still be of interest.