Aston Villa ‘enter talks’ with Tottenham over intriguing swap deal
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Aston Villa could be involved in another swap deal as Tottenham ramp up their interest in a talented midfielder
Tottenham Hotspur remain huge admirers of Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey and are now planning to try and strike a player-plus cash deal for the England U21 international, according to Sky Sports.
Ramsey is a player Tottenham technical director Johan Lange knows very well having worked as Villa's sporting director before joining Spurs. He is understood to have recommended the player to manager Ange Postecoglou, who already hinted at the end of last season that fans can expect to see several changes and new additions during this transfer window.
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Ramsey broke into the Aston Villa team during the 2020/21 campaign and has already made 107 Premier League appearances for the West Midlands outfit, scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists.
The youngster fired in six league goals in both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons and was a catalyst for the team’s upturn in fortunes when Unai Emery first arrived. However, last season during Villa’s best league campaign since 1996 he was reduced to just 16 league appearances during an injury-ridden campaign.
However, Emery still rates Ramsey highly and is desperate to keep him at the club if possible as they prepare for the prospect of a first Champions League campaign since 1983. Football Insider believes that Villa would only be open to discussion about Ramsey if a fee of around £50m was met, but Tottenham are hoping to strike a different type of deal which would see two players move in the opposite direction from North London.
One of those players is expected to be out-of-favour central midfielder Giovani Lo Celso. The 28-year-old midfielder was one of Maurcio Pochettino’s last signings as Spurs boss and he initially arrived on a loan deal from PSG which included an option to buy.
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After an impressive first season a permanent move was given the green light by Jose Mourinho, but due to a combination of injuries and form he has failed to establish himself as a first team player and did have two loan spells at Villarreal before returning to the first team setup at the start of last season.
Despite Ange Postecoglou’s arrival, Lo Celso remained a peripheral figure at Spurs and was limited to just 22 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals.
However, Lo Celso’s performances for Argentina at the Copa America are a reminder of the talents that the midfielder still possesses. Overall, he has 56 caps for the Whites and Sky Blue and after four appearances in this year’s tournament he is now two games away from winning yet another Copa America title to add to the one he won in 2021.
Lo Celso is five years older than Ramsey and currently under contract until next summer while Ramsey is under contract until 2027. As such, Football Insider understands that a direct swap deal will not be possible and suggest that Tottenham may offer one further player on top of Lo Celso in a bid to satisfy the Villa hierarchy.
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As of yet, that player has not been named, though Sky Sports understands that defenders Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon are not in the club’s long-term plans along with Emerson Royal, Richarlison, Pierre-Emerick Hojberg and Bryan Gil.