Sources: Aston Villa plotting to sign Duje Caleta-Car after transfer mission
Aston Villa are stepping up their plans to sign a new centre-back after Steven Gerrard watched Duje Caleta-Car in midweek, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
Villa are prioritising the capture of a dominant centre-back as part of what Gerrard wants to be a huge summer overhaul.
A Villa source has told Football Insider that Marseille defender Caleta-Car, 25, is firmly on the radar of the club’s recruitment team.
The Croatia international was watched by Gerrard and the Villa hierarchy as Marseille beat Nantes 3-2 in a Ligue 1 match on Wednesday night.
The Midlands club want at least one senior centre-back this summer as they look to break up the Tyrone Mings-Ezri Konza partnership.
Neither of the defenders has completely convinced Gerrard, who has made it clear behind the scenes that the current squad is not good enough to achieve the owners’ ambitions.
Caleta-Car is a player that Villa believe could be lured from Marseille this summer and that is why Gerrard is personally running the rule over him.
He was also at the Stade Velodrome to watch midfielder Boubacar Kamara in action.
Caleta-Car is a 22-times Croatia international who joined Marseille from Salzburg in the summer of 2018.
He has made 123 appearances for the French club, including 32 in the current campaign.
The centre-back has 28 Ligue 1 and European competition starts this term.
He has been linked with West Ham in previous transfer windows.
In other news, Tottenham plotting move to sign Aston Villa sensation as scouts blown away.