Aston Villa could sign perfect Cash upgrade in “beautiful” World Cup winner

Aston Villa have had a better season than many could have possibly expected and are sitting merely three points off the top of the Premier League heading into the new year.

However, while head coach Unai Emery will be delighted with his players’ performances this season, the Spanish coach may still feel as though one or two areas could be strengthened in January, with the window set to open in just a few days.

One player in particular could be Emery’s saving grace this winter and would improve Villa’s backline immensely, although the signing will certainly come at a price.

Aston Villa transfer news – Nahuel Molina

As per reports in Spain back in October, Aston Villa had emerged as the front-runners to sign Atletico Madrid fullback Nahuel Molina in January. Furthermore, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently revealed in November that the 25-year-old was set to sign a new contract with Los Colchoneros, although this has yet to be made official by either party.

The Argentine defender moved to the Spanish capital from Serie A club Udinese at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign for a reported £17.3m fee. Since then, Molina has helped guide Atletico to a third-place finish last season and even picked himself up a World Cup winner’s medal midway through the term with Argentina in Qatar.

Molina was Argentina’s first-choice right-back in the Middle East last winter and scored a goal in the quarter-finals as the South American side eventually beat the Netherlands on penalties en route to glory. Journalist Josh Bunting described the Atletico defender as “beautiful to watch” during the tournament.

As a result of his superb performances over the past twelve to eighteen months, Molina’s market value has soared to £70m, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Nahuel Molina’s stats this season

One area of Aston Villa’s team that Emery has tried to mask the deficiencies of over the past few months is at right-back. The manager predominantly deploys Matty Cash on the right side of the back four during games against weaker opposition. However, when tasked with facing stronger opponents, such as Manchester United, Cash drops to the bench.

Emery prefers having a more defensive player in that position against the top teams, hence why Ezri Konsa has been asked to fill in as a right-back multiple times this season already, including during Villa’s Boxing Day defeat to Manchester United. Up against Marcus Rashford on his return to the starting lineup, Konsa did quite well, winning 11 of his 15 duels and 67% of his tackles while also making eight ball recoveries.

Then, in theory, Emery will use Cash against teams with less quality than Villa, such as Sheffield United. However, the Poland international has struggled in recent weeks to offer anything on the right flank. In the 1-1 draw to the Blades last week, Cash lost possession of the ball 25 times and was handed a 4/10 match rating by Birmingham World for his errant display.

This season, Molina has been much better offensively and defensively than Cash and looks to be a clear upgrade on the Aston Villa fullback, having outperformed his counterpart across a string of metrics.

Emery doesn’t trust Cash to start in big games so signing a new right-back could be of paramount importance for Villa in January. While Molina will be expensive, he’ll certainly be worth the money.