MX23RW : Thursday, June 24 20:50:23| >> :120:11874:11874:

Aston Villa 'leapfrog Arsenal in Emiliano Buendia race'

Aston Villa 'leapfrog Arsenal in Emiliano Buendia race'
© Reuters
Emiliano Buendia is close to leaving Norwich after their promotion.

Aston Villa are winning the race for Norwich star Emi Buendia.

The forward is close to a club-record move to Villa Park, in a massive blow to Arsenal, the PA news agency understands.

The Gunners and Villa made offers of around £30million this week and the Canaries are deciding what is best.

But PA has been told Villa have put together an impressive offer for Buendia and they are now favourites to sign him.

Any deal will surpass the record £28million which bought Ollie Watkins from Brentford last summer.

Arsenal do at least remain in the hunt and are long-time admirers, having made their interest clear during last summer's restart following the enforced coronavirus break.

But Villa have extensively scouted the 24-year-old and watched several of his final games this season.

Buendia helped Norwich win their second Sky Bet Championship title in the last three seasons when they returned to the Premier League at the first attempt this year.

He scored 15 goals and made 16 assists to earn his first call-up to the Argentina squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia.

Buendia has been happy in Norfolk after joining from Getafe in 2018, recognising the chance the Canaries have given him, but has always had desire to play at a higher level.

"One always dreams of being at the highest level and in the best teams in England, Spain or Europe," Buendia told AS last month.

"One dreams of playing for titles, it is an ambition that I have, it is a pride that important clubs are interested in you, it means that you are doing things well and it is a motivation to continue working and one day achieve it."

ID:450335: cacheID:450335:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2998:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Did you know...?
Euro 2020 banner Instagram AMP
Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte pictured on February 14, 2021
Read Next:
Friday's paper talk: Emiliano Buendia, Wilfried Zaha, Antonio Conte
>

rhs 2.0
Euro 2020 fixtures
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Monday, June 28, 2021
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Friday, July 2, 2021
Todays Game Header Right
Tables

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!