Aston Villa plotting Chelsea transfer hijack for 23-year-old BlueCo star: report

Aston Villa are interested in signing an attacking right-back from Ligue 1 high flyers Strasbourg, according to reports.

Villa have several players who can theoretically play at right-back but it has long been considered a position in need of strengthening. Matty Cash is in good shape at the moment but is the only reliable attack-minded player available at right-back and even then his actual attacking output isn’t his best suit.

Andrés García has struggled with injury throughout his time at Villa and Victor Lindelöf, while he offers experience and depth, is more an emergency back-up for Ezri Konsa than an adequate understudy for Cash and García.

There’s no doubt Unai Emery and Roberto Olabe would like to tighten up the right-back spot by improving on Cash if possible, but that’s much easier said than done. Bringing in genuine competition is a more achievable aim.

The latest player linked with a possible move to Villa is Guela Doué, a 23-year-old Ivorian defender attracting attention in Alsace.

Pete O’Rourke claims that Villa are among the clubs interested in Doué, who joined Strasbourg from Rennes last year.

“I’m sure it’s more than just Aston Villa that he’s caught the eye of,” O’Rourke said on the Inside Track podcast.

“Doué’s had a very good time at Strasbourg. [He] has established himself as one of the most promising young full-backs in Ligue 1 right now.

“Chelsea are also interested in him. You’ve got Brighton, they’ve been looking at him as well. So look, there’s going to be a host of clubs who’ll be keeping eyes on Doué’s progress at Strasbourg.”

Premier League suitors face a BlueCo challenge

If Chelsea want a Strasbourg player, Chelsea are going to get the Strasbourg player.

Chelsea and Strasbourg are the two clubs wholly owned by BlueCo, the investment alliance between Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital and others that was formed to take over from Roman Abramovich at Chelsea in 2022.

Like any multi-club ownership organisation, there are links between the clubs that allow a degree of transfer collaboration. Indeed, so close are these two clubs in particular that the most recent transfer window saw players linked with BlueCo or ‘Chelsea-Strasbourg’ instead of either club.

Doué came through the ranks at Rennes and was snapped up by BlueCo after a single season of senior football, suggesting that Chelsea might well have been part of the plan all along.

The French-born right-back made his Ivory Coast debut in 2024. He is the older brother of Désiré Doué, who scored the first goal of Villa’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain last season and came off the bench in the second leg at the Villa Park.

The older Doué started 30 Ligue 1 matches for Strasbourg last season and has another three starts to his name under Liam Rosenior this season as well as two in the Conference League.

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