Aston Villa make Enzo Barrenechea decision

Fabrizio Romano has this afternoon confirmed that Aston Villa and Valencia have agreed a loan deal for young midfielder Enzo Barrenechea.

The 23-year-old signed for Aston Villa as part of the deal that saw Douglas Luiz sign for Juventus at the start of July. Fast forward to the end of August and both Barrenechea and fellow signing Samuel Iling-Junior have both left the club, with Iling-Junior signing on loan for Bologna.

Romano initially suggested yesterday that a deal for Barrenechea to Valencia was almost complete before Villa had delayed the deal to have more time to think about whether it was the best option. However, Unai Emery has now decided that he won't be part of his plans this year but the absence of buying option from the deal suggests he will be in future.

Have Aston Villa actually improved their squad?

The form at the back end of last season as a result of a huge number of injuries through the squad suggested that Villa would need to ensure greater depth this season with it being a Champions League season.

The start of the transfer window this summer seemed to suggest that Emery and the club had realised this was greatly needed by signing several players in the first few weeks. Amadou Onana signed for a club record fee from Everton, Ross Barkley from Luton, Ian Maatsen from Chelsea and Jaden Philogene, Cameron Archer, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior were all signed.

However, out of those eight players signed four of them have already departed the club before the end of the transfer window. Cameron Archer, having re-joined the club, left for Southampton for £15 million, Dobbin headed to West Brom on loan whilst Barrenechea and Iling-Junior have this week left to play in Italy and Spain respecitvely. Therefore, the improved squad depth that had developed has suddenly vanished again and Villa seem to be short on players.

Villa still aiming to bring in new players

Weeks ago it was confirmed by Unai Emery that Villa would be working on a one-in-one-out basis in terms of transfers and with the departures of the players mentioned as well as Alex Moreno and (hopefully) Leander Dendoncker there should be room and money for Villa to try and bring in new players before the deadline.

Lutsharel Geertruida from Feyenoord is still the most likely to move to Villa Park although a deal is considered difficult to complete.

UTV