Aston Villa could look to the summer transfer window to bolster the quality in their squad and now a reliable source has revealed a potential transfer target.
What's the latest on Aston Villa's interest in Ibrahima Bamba?
According to Italian journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Aston Villa are tracking Vitória Guimarães midfielder Ibrahima Bamba.
Romano revealed on Twitter:
"Ibrahima Bamba will play his final game with Vitória Guimarães today vs Porto, expected to get a big move this summer. ✨🇮🇹 #transfers"
"Aston Villa have been tracking him for long time but nothing agreed yet — there are many clubs keen on Bamba. No talks with Arsenal despite links."
Would Ibrahima Bamba be a good signing for Aston Villa?
After qualifying for European football in the Europa Conference League next season, there is no doubt that Unai Emery will be keen to add more quality and energy to the team to ensure the squad can stay fresh and compete comfortably across all competitions.
As a result, the signing of Bamba could be a great opportunity for the Villa boss to not only bring in a young player with huge potential that can be polished at Villa Park but also provide quality rotation for Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.
Over 28 Liga Portugal appearances, the 21-year-old ace – hailed as "intriguing" and a "special talent" by Zach Lowy – has tallied up an 84% pass completion rate and won 59% of his duels combined, as well as averaging 1.3 interceptions, 2.3 tackles and 4.4 clearances per game, proving that he is a consistent defensive presence.
In fact, Emery could land an upgrade on Konsa with the signing of Bamba as the young centre-back has outperformed the Villa defender in several attributes this season including tackles and interceptions won (99 v 65), ball recoveries (174 v 158), blocks (45 v 40) and tacklers dribbled success rate (77.3% v 69.2%), despite playing nine fewer league games.
Not only could Bamba provide quality depth and strong competition in the centre-back role, but it is also reported that the Italian has a €30m (£26m) release clause, which would be a steal if he could continue to put in consistent defensive performances in the Premier League.
With that being said, the future is looking bright for Bamba and should the club secure his services this summer it would be a great opportunity for Emery to develop and polish a young talent who can play a key role in the future at Villa Park.