Exclusive: Bristol City, Middlesbrough & Cardiff City race to sign Guilbert
Bristol City, Cardiff City and Middlesbrough are in the hunt to sign Aston Villa defender Frederic Guilbert this month, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
The Premier League high flyers have given the green light for Guilbert to head out on loan for the second half of the season.
The Frenchman, 26, has, as revealed by this site, rejected a temporary move to Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir.
A Villa source has told Football Insider that Guilbert has now been targeted by Championship trio Cardiff, Bristol City and Boro.
They are all in the market for a new right-back this month and believe the Midlands giants' man fits the bill.
This site first revealed on 29 December that Villa were planning to loan out Guilbert in January so he can get regular first-team football.
The Frenchman has not featured in the Premier League this season and is behind first choice Matty Cash and Ahmed Elmohamady in the right-back pecking order in Dean Smith's side.
Cash started all 14 of Villa's 15 Premier League matches this season and made a seamless transition into top-flight football after joining from Nottingham Forest in a £14m deal last summer.
Guilbert has made 31 Villa appearances since signing from French club Caen in January 2019.
He rejected a loan move to Championship side Bournemouth in the last market as Villa tried to temporarily get him off the wage bill.
The one-time France Under-21 international has been limited to just two appearances in the League Cup this season.
Elmohamady, who turned 33 in September, has been preferred this term but is out of contract at the end of the season.