ASTON VILLA are planning for an extremely active summer transfer window.
And they could have as much as £200million to spend.
Meanwhile, incoming director of football Mateu Alemany has already eyed up one of his first-choice marquee signings.
And he is targeting Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who is also wanted by Newcastle.
Under Unai Emery, whose October appointment has brought an impressive upturn in form, Villa are in with a shout of finishing in a European spot for the first time since 2010.
As a result, the Midlands club are ready to put their trust in the Spanish coach when it comes to building a squad good enough to maintain them as a top seven club next season.
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Alemany, 60, is leaving Barcelona after a two-year stint on June 30 with Villa finalising a deal to bring him in ahead of the opening of the transfer window.
He was originally selected by Newcastle’s Saudi-backed consortium to lead their project before Emery was linked with the head coach position, only to choose Barca instead.
Emery has a relationship with Alemany – the Villa manager’s personal assistant Damia Vidagany working with him previously at Valencia.
And SunSport understands Alemany is keen to hit the ground running for Emery with the club already in talks to snap up highly-rated Ugarte, who was linked with Spurs earlier this season.
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The 22-year-old Uruguayan has a £52m release clause in his current contract, which expires in June 2026, having only joined in 2021 for £5m.
He has been likened to Portuguese international Joao Palhinha, who left Sporting for Fulham last summer and has taken the Premier League by storm in his debut campaign.
Liverpool are also very interested in acquiring his services, but Villa are hoping to steal a march and convince the player to be a part of Emery’s rebuild.
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