Barcelona preparing to bid big for Aston Villa star next summer

It is being reported that Spanish giants Barcelona are interested in signing Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana. Having only joined the club in July for a fee of £50 million, it would seem unlikely that the Belgian international would leave Villa so soon but Barcelona has added him to their list of potential signings.

This story has been reported by MARCA, Spain's national daily tabloid sports newspaper owned by Unidad Editorial. Onana has had an impressive start to his claret and blue career, scoring two goals already during Villa's opening four games and providing the midfield physicality the club has craved for years. Despite this, it is believed that Onana has been on Barcelona's transfer target list for a while and new manager Hansi Flick could be tempted to make an offer next summer.

Could a deal really happen?

The move from Everton to Aston Villa was an obvious step up for the 23-year-old, from fighting relegation to playing Champions League football. Onana has also built a very quick connection with the Villa fans and has been very outgoing during his post-match celebrations with them. However, despite this step up in standard if a club like Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in world football, were to come knocking then could we see him make the seemingly unlikely move to Spain?

Villa kick-off their Champions League campaign against BSC Young Boys tonight and the guarantee of playing in Europe's most elite competition was certainly a key factor in Onana choosing to sign for the club. If Villa fail to hold on to their Champions League status next season though, Onana could look to join a club that will have that level of football guaranteed year in and year out.

Even if the player was to be looking for a move at the end of the season, which is highly unlikely at this stage, he is tied down to a contract with Villa until 2029. Villa will be in no hurry to sell their record signing and the only way a deal would occur would be if the five-time European champions made an eye-watering bid. Barcelona has had its financial struggles in recent years but has still somehow been able to spend big on players like Dani Olmo this summer for €55 million.

Onana's impact at Aston Villa

Amadou Onana ranked second in terms of performance amongst the Premier League's newest signings after the first few games. He also ranked fourth for best passing success rate of all Premier League midfielders (93.3%) after the first three games. His impact has been clear for all to see and he has provided both physicality and creativity in the defensive midfield area.

When Douglas Luiz left the club in the summer there was a lot of worry from the fans that he would be very difficult to replace. Even when the Belgian was signed it didn't strike huge confidence in those fans because of the different qualitities he was deemed to offer to the departed Brazilian. Many believed Onana would come in as a ball-winning midfielder and that was the extent of his quality. However, he has shown already that he possesses a useful presence in both boxes and has a wonderful eye for a pass. He threaded a defence splitting pass in the build-up to Ollie Watkins's first goal against Everton on Saturday. Already, he has shown multiple times that he is the perfect replacement for Douglas Luiz.

It would seem hugely unlikely that a deal for Onana to leave the club would develop next summer but should his performances continue to impress at the top level, then it would be understandable for the clubs with the stature of Barcelona to be interested in signing him.

UTV