Aston Villa open talks for former Barcelona right-back

Few players have impressed as much over the past two years in La Liga as Oscar Mingueza, and he has attracted many admiring glances over the past six months. It seems that Aston Villa have decided to act on those performances first.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa has opened talks for Mingueza with Celta, although those talks are in the early stages. However, Mingueza is described as one of their main targets, and someone who is liked by both the Villa board and manager Unai Emery, who is keeping a close eye on potential La Liga recruits.

🚨🟣🔵 Aston Villa have started talks to explore the departure of Óscar Mingueza from Celta de Vigo.

Nothing has advanced yet, but it is one of the main objectives for the January window, as appreciated by the board of directors/Unai Emery. pic.twitter.com/NbVisI9Afl

—Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 6, 2025

Mingueza became a creative force for Celta Vigo under Rafael Benítez, but has improved even more under Claudio Giraldez since he replaced the former Liverpool manager. This September he earned his first call-up for Spain and has also been in their next two teams. RB Leipzig have also been heavily linked with Mingueza in recent weeks, while Barcelona have a 50% selling fee. Villa can force the issue by activating his €20m release clause, while Celta president Marian Mourino has stated that they want to retain Mingueza at least until the summer.