Aston Villa are allegedly contemplating whether to sign Chelsea defender Axel Disasi in a £50m deal.
Head coach Unai Emery claimed in the aftermath of Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers that he was 'in need of more players'.
That is a consequence of central-defensive duo Pau Torres and Tyrone Mings being sidelined through injury and Diego Carlos being sold to Fenerbahce.
Furthermore, young right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic has been loaned to RB Leipzig at a time when Matty Cash is also facing several weeks on the sidelines.
Last week, it was reported that Villa had proposed a loan deal for Disasi, who is said to have subsequently agreed personal terms with the West Midlands outfit.
Villa ready to go big for Disasi?
Nevertheless, according to Football Insider, Villa officials are ready to pay in the region of £50m for Disasi.
That would represent a remarkable change of approach to acquire a player that has been pushed down the Chelsea pecking order in recent weeks.
Despite making 15 starts and two substitute outings in all competitions this campaign, a poor performance in defeat to Ipswich Town on December 30 contributed to Enzo Maresca preferring to recalling Trevoh Chalobah from his loan stint at Crystal Palace.
While Chelsea had been prepared to part ways with the former Monaco star for a loan fee, club officials are highly unlikely to reject such a lucrative proposal should Villa follow up their alleged interest in a permanent bid.
Furthermore, it would theoretically free up Villa to target a loan deal for Joao Felix. Premier League regulations dictate that one club cannot loan two players from the same team in a single season.
Is such a transfer deal realistic?
With Tottenham Hotspur having withdrawn from the race to sign Disasi earlier on Monday, it has become clear that the player's preference is to sign for Villa.
Chelsea had initially been against loaning Disasi to Villa due to the clubs being rivals for Champions League qualification.
However, the size of the alleged proposal would likely change that stance when Chelsea are able to make a substantial profit with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability regulations.
Whether Villa can afford Disasi is another matter. Although they have just sold Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr in a deal worth an alleged £64m deal, they have just taken on a large portion of Marcus Rashford's wages with a reported £40m option to sign the Manchester United man in the summer. body check tags ::
