By support

13th Apr, 2017 | 8:50am

Aston Villa defender deal 'very close' after manager revelation

By Matt Farr

Doncaster manager Darren Ferguson has revealed the club are very close to extending Aston Villa defender Niall Mason’s stay with the club.

The 20-year-old is currently on loan at Doncaster until the end of the season, but the League Two outfit are determined to retain his services.

Mason, a product of the Real Madrid academy, has been a regular feature of Ferguson’s starting eleven at Doncaster, making 37 appearances in all competitions.

But he has yet to make his senior debut for the Aston Villa first team, and a potential permanent switch to Keepmoat Stadium could be an enticing option.

Ferguson revealed to BBC Radio Sheffield on Wednesday that he wanted to extended Mason’s stay with the club, and admitted he was ‘very close’ to doing a deal with Aston Villa.

He said: “With Niall Mason, we are very, very close to doing something and I think that will be done.

“We’re in a good place with those. Certainly I would be keen to keep them, it’s just whether we can negotiate the right deals.”

Ferguson was also referring to an extended deal for midfielder Conor Grant, who is currently on loan at the club from Premier League outfit, Everton.

Mason put pen to paper on a professional deal at Aston Villa in 2015 following a successful trial at the Midlands club, but it remains to be seen if he has a future in the first team under Steve Bruce.

He joined the first-team squad for a summer training camp in 2015 under then-manager Tim Sherwood, but he has had few flirtations with the senior side at Villa Park since.

Football Insider verdict

Aston Villa have discovered new-found defensive security in recent weeks, which has been one of the most impressive aspects of their late promotion surge in the Championship. However, even if Steve Bruce opts to make further changes to his squad, he may feel more inclined to add experience to his back-line, as opposed to drafting in a youngster like Mason – at least at this stage. Mason has benefitted from regular first-team football with Doncaster, but League Two is some step below the Championship, and he may yet be ready to command similar opportunities at Villa Park. An extended stay could be beneficial to Villa, not to mention Doncaster, who will be testing themselves in League One next season.

In other Aston Villa transfer news, a report claims Villa are set to loan out this January signing.

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