An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their interest in bolstering their defensive options heading into the summer transfer window.
What's the latest on Jordan Zemura to Aston Villa?
According to 90min, the Villans are one of a number of clubs from the Premier League who are interested in snapping up Jordan Zemura from Bournemouth.
The report claims that West Ham United are currently leading the race for his signature and are facing competition from Unai Emery, Newcastle, and Leeds United.
He is currently out of the first-team picture at the Vitality Stadium due to the ongoing contract dispute with the club and is set to be a free agent at the end of the season unless the gem can come to an agreement on an extension with the Cherries.
Who is Jordan Zemura?
The Bournemouth left-back is a 23-year-old defender who has been a regular fixture in Gary O'Neil's side in the Premier League over the course of the season so far.
He has featured in 19 of their top-flight matches, starting 17, since earning promotion from the Championship last term and is a promising young full-back.
Emery could bring him in to be the long-term heir to Lucas Digne at left-back, who turns 30 – alongside Alex Moreno – before the start of next season.
Villa signed the Frenchman from Everton for a fee of £25m last year and the defender has struggled in the Premier League this term. The flop has averaged 2.1 tackles and interceptions and 0.8 key passes per match whilst winning 51% of his individual duels and being dribbled past 0.5 times per outing, as per Sofascore.
Zemura, meanwhile, has made 2.9 tackles and interceptions and 0.9 key passes per outing to go along with winning 50% of his physical contests on the pitch.
Reporter Jack Tanner described the gem as a "livewire" and stated that the dynamo has been "having fun" on the left flank, which was also the case last term.
The youngster caught the eye in their promotion campaign by creating an impressive seven 'big chances' and scoring three goals from left-back in 32 starts, while also making 2.7 tackles and interceptions per game.
He is six years younger than Digne, and Moreno, and could come in as a player with the potential to be the long-term starter for Emery at left-back, with his statistics this season also suggesting that the gem could be an immediate, slight, upgrade on the Frenchman based on his defensive and creative output.
Therefore, Johan Lange and the Villa head coach must beat off competition from West Ham and Leeds to snap the Bournemouth full-back up on a free transfer this summer.