Aston Villa have made their move for £25m talent likened to John Stones, decision imminent - Fabrizio Romano

Aston Villa have been incredibly busy on the transfer front this summer, with eight signings over the line already.

Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen, Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene, Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley have all joined the Villans this summer.

Villa have also sold four players – Douglas Luiz, Tim Iroegbunam, Morgan Sanson and Viljami Sinisalo – while Philippe Coutinho has left Villa Park on loan.

Better yet for Villans fans, it looks as though their club is nowhere near done yet in the transfer window.

For instance, there has been intense speculation regarding Villa’s pursuit of Joao Felix, said to be Unai Emery’s dream signing.

Now, Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Villans have moved in for a £25million-rated defensive talent likened to John Stones in recent days.

READ MORE: Unai Emery is personally urging Aston Villa to sign player with ‘magical talent’

Aston Villa make late approach for Juventus gem Dean Juijsen

The player in question is Dean Huijsen, who Juventus are going to sell this week, according to Romano.

The transfer insider reported that the 19-year-old defender is set to decide his next club “very shortly”, with Bournemouth and Stuttgart in the lead.

However, Villa are one of several clubs that have attempted a late swoop for the £25million-rated ace in recent days, alongside Wolfsburg and AS Monaco.

“Huijsen will decide shortly,” concluded Romano.

TBR Football recently revealed that Liverpool and Newcastle have also enquired about Huijsen.

Who is Aston Villa target Dean Huijsen?

Dean Huijsen is a 19-year-old professional football who plies his trade for Juventus and represents Spain at Under-21 level.

The 6ft 5in talent was born in Amsterdam to a Dutch family but moved to Spain aged five and now has Spanish citizenship, so he’s eligible to represent both the Oranje and the Roja.

Huijsen began his football journey with Marbella-based Costa Unida CF before joining the Malaga youth ranks in 2015.

Six year later, he linked up with the Juventus academy and has risen through the ranks to the first-team and a debut.

Huijsen made his Juve debut in October last year, playing for 12 minutes in a 1-0 win over AC Milan in Serie A.

The Bianconeri then loaned him out to Roma for the second half of the 2023/24 season, where he made 14 appearances, also scoring two goals and claiming an assist.

Football Talent Scout published a guest article by HolisticFutbol in October 2023 in which the reported Villa target was likened to John Stones, Ben White and Declan Rice.

“He reminds me of two technical English CBs, Ben White and John Stones, in his ability to play on the touchline and overlap and the ability to drive with the ball centrally,” wrote HF.

“Given what I’ve seen of him, from ball carrying, pass variety, cognitive speed, physical speed, anticipation, if he could adapt as a 6 that would be the role where his qualities are maximised, a Dutch Declan Rice.”