Former Sheffield Wednesday man set for Champions League transfer as Sheffield United's rivals handed blow

Aston Villa are said to be closing in on a reunion with a former Sheffield Wednesday loan player as they prepare for next season. Unai Emery’s men wrapped up their campaign over the weekend, with their Champions League qualification celebrations appearing to take their toll.

Villa lost 5-0 to Crystal Palace on the final day, but you will find few fans who will lose sleep over that particular defeat given the club managed a historic Champions League qualification, finishing fourth in the Premier League. The tricky part of reaching the Champions League is that it requires significant squad upgrades for a club like Villa that has not been competing at that level previously.

But Emery will already have a list of players that he wants to sign, and on that list appears to be a familiar name. According to The Guardian, Villa are closing in on the signing of former Owls loan player Ross Barkley. The midfielder spent time on loan at Villa Park during his Chelsea days, scoring three times in 24 league games. Earlier in his career, he spent 13 games on loan with Wednesday while playing for Everton. He scored four times during that loan spell.

Since then, the midfielder has spent time with French club Nice before joining Luton Town for their Premier League season. Barkley was a standout player for the Hatters, scoring five goals in 32 Premier League outings, also assisting four. Far from a Championship player, Barkley will move on from Luton for a small fee following their relegation, and the report claims it is Villa who will take full advantage of the deal.

Barkley had already admitted: “I want to play in the Premier League. I want to play in Europe again…I feel like for the next three years maybe I’ll still be in my prime years.” He was being linked with a move to Manchester United ahead of this summer, but it appears to be Villa who are closing in on a deal.

The report claims Villa want two midfielders, a full-back and a striker, and they must do all of that while remaining within profit and sustainability rules, keeping in mind they won’t see the true benefit of Champions League qualification in relation to those rules until the end of next season.

The signing of Barkley will allow them to tick off one of those needs without breaking the bank, and they have already enjoyed success in shopping at relegated teams. Villa did the same last summer when they managed to snatch Youri Tielemans from Leicester City on an affordable fee, with the Belgian going on to 32 league appearances in the season just gone.

As for Luton, they have suffered a potential blow ahead of their first season back in the Championship, while second tier clubs like Wednesday and United will take a little comfort from the possible deal. Hatters boss Rob Edwards had been hopeful of a Barkley stay, saying: “We’ve had a good chat and we want to be open and honest with each other. Ross is an ambitious person and like we all are, we all want to be at the top, competing at the top.

"But he recognises what this club has done for him at the same time, what we’ve been able to do for each other. He’s loved this season and he loves the club, so if I speak openly and frankly, nothing really is off the table. We’re really hopeful that he will stay, but we’re also realistic in this day and age what could happen as well and not just him, there might be one or two others.

"But that doesn’t mean that him and one or two others are going to go either. We are in control of a lot of these things as well, so it will be an interesting few months. We are committed to being as strong as possible to go into the next season. Our aim is to keep the group together and Ross is a really important player for us, so that’s what we want.”