Aston Villa close on Tammy Abraham return with £50m transfer sacrifice

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Aston Villa are close to landing Tammy Abraham on a long-term deal with Unai Emery ready to sacrifice £50million of attacking talent to get a deal done.

Emery has been keen to add more firepower to his squad with Villa competing on multiple fronts and has turned to a man in Abraham who knows the club well following a previous loan spell at Villa Park when they were in the Championship.

Negotiations will continue, but a four-and-a-half year deal is on the table, underlining the faith the club have in the ex- Chelsea striker. The 28-year-old has several suitors but the prospect of making Villa his long-term home is thought to have been a major motivator.

Villa still need to tread carefully in negotiations, given their own PSR issues and with Abraham on loan at Besiktas from Roma , with the Turkish club triggering an obligation to buy him. As a result Emery could let Besiktas have a player on loan to soften the blow of losing a striker who's scored 12 times.

The Times reports that Evann Guessand could head out of the Midlands club to the Super Lig outfit despite only recently joining the club from Nice for £30m. However he's goalless in his 12 Premier League outings and could be sacrificed.

Villa are also letting Donyell Malen leave for Roma, meaning they would be in need of a replacement. The Dutchman has scored seven times this term, only one shy of leading scorer Morgan Rogers but has already flown to Rome where he is undergoing a medical today. The £20m Dutchman, who only joined Villa last January, is joining the Serie A side on a loan deal with a £21million purchase option.

Ollie Watkins is their main out and out striker at present, and has recently found form after a difficult start to the season, but Emery wants more of a physical presence up top too. Certainly, Abraham would add that.

He excelled in Villa’s promotion season of 2018-19, when he scored 25 goals in 37 Championship games while on loan from Chelsea . He then went on to be a success with the Blues - Abraham scored 18 times in his most prolific season at Stamford Bridge - before ultimately heading to Italy and a move to Roma.

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Jose Mourinho turned to Abraham as he sought his main man in attack at the Stadio Olimpico. The Englishman repaid that faith and produced the best year of his career, scoring 27 times. He's struggled with a couple of serious injuries the following year and spent last term on loan at AC Milan.

Emery endured a difficult summer at Villa Park with the club conducting only late business and being hampered by PSR issues. But while Victor Lindelof has been a big success, Harvey Elliott's loan spell is due to be cut short, as Villa don't want to pay the £30m required to sign him permanently from Liverpool if he makes five more appearances. Jadon Sancho was also signed.

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