Arsenal loses the battle for Buendia, as Aston Villa pays a record fee for the midfielder

Mikel Arteta and Edu can cross out one of their potential targets, they lost to Aston Villa. In their quest for reinforcements in Arsenal’s midfield, coach and sporting director of the North London club had two names which they particularly liked: Martin Odegaard and Emi Buendia. Midfielder from Real impressed while on loan at Emirates, but his initial price (if Ancelotti want’s to sell) would be at least 8 billion Ksh. So, Arteta was thinking about a cheaper option, as Buendia would cost less, coming from newly promoted Norwich. But, while Arteta and Edu were mulling over, Aston Villa stepped in and finished the deal: Buendia is 99% a Villan.

During the day, the news from Birmingham and Argentina started to appear, and they are all the same: the Argentinian has agreed personal terms, medical was already done in Argentina, where the player is currently on holiday, and the fee will be around 5 billion, with additional add-ons of around 764 million. Formalities are expected to be completed in the next 72 hours after Villa had a bid accepted and opened talks with the ace. This is a record deal for both clubs, and the reports said that Arsenal did tried to interfire in the last minute and launched a 5 billion bid, but it was too late. However, since the signing didn’t actually happened yet, London based media are reporting that Arsenal has a small hope of bringing down Villa’s transfer.

The 24-year-old was named the Championship player of the year having directly contributed to 31 goals (15 goals and 16 assists). Buendia would tick several boxes for Villa executives. He has several years of experience in English football, has impressed in both the Premier League and Championship and at 24 has the potential to improve further. After ’sniffing’ around Arsenal for Smith-Rowe availability, Villa quickly turned to Buendia as a potential replacement for Ross Barkley, who went back to Chelsea after a loan spell.

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So, first defeat in the transfer market for the duo. Their answer? According to reports, Matheus Pereira from relegated WBA is their next target.