Aston Villa lining up free transfer of Premier League sharpshooter: report

Aston Villa are working on a move for Fulham playmaker and in-form goalscorer Harry Wilson in the summer transfer window, according to reports.

Villa are in the market for creative attacking midfield players after deciding not to trigger the obligation to buy clause in their loan deal for Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott. With interest in Morgan Rogers bound to dominate the transfer window and Villa’s squad in general starting to get up towards the upper viable limits in terms of age, standing still is not an option.

There will be significant competition for Wilson, whose contract with Fulham expires in the summer after a season in which he’s been at the top of his game and started to fulfil his potential as a Premier League player.

Harry Wilson is a transfer target for Villa

Villa manager Unai Emery is eager to bring Wilson to Villa Park, according to reporting by The Telegraph this week.

“Villa had Wilson on their radar during the January transfer window as a player who would be available for a relatively cheap fee,” writes Mike McGrath.

“Unai Emery prioritised a centre-forward and landed Tammy Abraham to bolster his squad for the club’s attempt to get into the Champions League.

“But Wilson has remained on their radar. They are still in the market for a right winger, which is where Wilson has done most of his work this season.”

Villa need to master the free transfer

That right wing position, by no means a traditional winger role in Emery’s system, is where Elliott was expected to feature most frequently and has been vacated by the injury to Villa captain John McGinn.

Jadon Sancho has been at his most effective there but his Villa future is uncertain to say the least. Even if a permanent switch is seen as desirable at the end of his loan from Manchester United, acquiring Sancho could be complicated by his personal terms.

It’s understood that Sancho will be available on a free transfer, with reports indicating that United have decided not to activate an option to extend his contract by a year with a view to bringing in a fee when he leaves the club.

What’s emerging is an apparent choice between approaches for two players who will soon be free agents. There’s a reason for that: Villa need to be better at free transfers than every other Premier League club if they’re to stay on track for silverware and Champions League football in next few years.

Premier League PSR and UEFA squad cost ratio calculations – which will soon be reflected in Premier League rule changes and are exacerbated in Villa’s case by a compliance agreement between the club and European football’s governing body – mean that player trading is both necessary and difficult.

It’s the single biggest challenge facing Roberto Olabe as Villa’s president of football operations and, bluntly, will define everything that happens at Villa for the next decade.

Good omens in the transfer market

It’s not all bad news. At a club that doesn’t want to be prone to making excuses, the positive outlook is that Villa are capable of using the constraints of their transfer activity as a competitive advantage.

While there have been some colossal transfer fees moving both into and out of Villa in recent seasons, free transfers have served them well.

There have been a few duds along the way but Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara not costing a fee between them is a success that can be quibbled with by nobody.

Wages are a factor when it comes to balancing the ledger with the authorities, now more than ever, but picking up the likes of Tielemans, Kamara and potentially Wilson without a transfer outlay is likely to be a big part of the plan from now on.

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