Aston Villa Linked To Napoli Star In Stalled Deal: Should Emery Pursue Him?

Aston Villa Linked To Napoli Star In Stalled Deal: Should Emery Pursue Him? Unai Emery marked his 200th Premier League game with a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, leaving the touchline before the final whistle. Villa led 2-0 inside four minutes through Alysson and Nicolas Jackson, then 4-2 after John McGinn’s penalty and Leon Goretzka’s finish, yet Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu struck in stoppage time to rescue Michael Carrick’s 18th-placed Manchester United . Youri Tielemans, now at United, had also equalised before the break against his old club. Villa scored four in a league game and failed to win for the first time since December 2007. The point leaves them tenth going into the international break, and they haven’t won since beating Manchester City 2-1 on 24 October. Since then they’ve lost 3-0 to both Bournemouth and Barcelona and drawn 1-1 with Fulham. Emery’s midfield deserves part of the blame. Goretzka arrived in the summer to add presence and goals, João Gomes and Boubacar Kamara supply the ball-winning, and McGinn still arrives from the left, yet the group looks stretched once games open up. United finished with 3.55 expected goals to Villa’s 2.88 and 44 touches in the visitors’ box to 18. That context explains why a story from Italy has gathered attention. NAPLES, ITALY – NOVEMBER 08: Scott McTominay of SSC Napoli during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and SS Lazio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on November 08, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images) Sean Lunt reported for Sport Witness that Villa and Manchester United are being kept linked with Napoli’s Scott McTominay to help the player’s camp pressure the Serie A club during stalled contract talks. The 29-year-old, who turns 30 in December, wants a rise from about £3.8m a year (€4.5m) to between £6m and £6.8m (€7-8m). Napoli haven’t ruled out selling for €25-30m (roughly £21m to £25m) to avoid a financial loss, and his agent has already contacted English clubs. A January exit looks unlikely, with Real Madrid and AC Milan also monitoring. The Scotland midfielder scored 10 Serie A goals last season, and Sport Witness credits him with five in 11 this term. He wins most aerial duels, but he isn’t a natural ball-winner, hasn’t provided a Serie A assist this season and has undergone a heart procedure. Should Aston Villa pay for a 30-year-old midfielder? Not in January, and not at that price. McTominay’s best qualities, late runs and second-ball goals, already exist in Goretzka and McGinn, while Villa’s problem at Old Trafford was protection once the match stretched. There’s a smarter route. If his deal expires in June 2027, Villa can open talks from 1 January and sign him free. That’s the only price worth paying.