Aston Villa identifies transfer targets for 2026.
Aston Villa has to be smart with money given that it is struggling with PSR restrictions. A way around this is to sign a free agent that will improve your Unai Emery team. This is what club officials will be monitoring in their 2026 lead-up.
There is an option for Aston Villa to spend a lot of time signing next summer, but they won’t be able to make many of these without a critical sale. Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins become candidates to depart, but the people at Villa Park are desperate to ensure that both players stay in the book as long as possible.
So the key is to sign a free agent who will bolster the options Emery has at his disposal.
Five players Aston Villa can agree to terms in January
According to the Birmingham World, there are five names that Aston Villa can consider as pre-contract options that can be sought from January 1st. One of them is Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano, but it would be difficult to consider what he wants to do in the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool.
The former Man City star hasn’t finished his contract with Barcelona as another defensive option, but in the middle, he could tempt former female captain Reuben Neves to join when his al-Hilal contract ends.
On the wing, Upamecano’s Bayern teammate Serge Gunaburi could be an option if he doesn’t sign a new deal by January, and the striker’s target could be Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, who has been linked to something like Man United in recent months. For now, it is still unknown whether Aston Villa is moving any of these names.