Lucas Digne: Aston Villa set to beat Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham to signing of Everton left-back

Aston Villa are in advanced negotiations to sign Lucas Digne from Everton, with the left-back understood to favour a move to Steven Gerrard’s side.

The arrival of Digne would be a coup for Villa, as they appear to have beaten off competition from Premier League rivals Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham for

the France international’s signing.

Personal terms between Villa and Digne are not expected to be a problem. The Midlands side are yet to agree a fee with Everton, but it is likely to be between £20-25m.

Digne’s departure is expected this month after he had a public falling out with Everton manager Rafael Benitez over the team’s tactics.

Benitez revealed this week Digne – who has 43 caps for France – had asked to leave the club. He has not played since the 4-1 home defeat to rivals Liverpool on December 1.

Villa’s move for the 28-year-old is further evidence of their ambition under Gerrard, who helped to secure the eye-catching signing of his former Liverpool team-mate Philippe Coutinho earlier this week.

Chelsea were also understood to be keen on signing Digne following Ben Chilwell’s knee injury, which looks set to keep him out for the rest of the season, but they decided against following up their initial interest.

Digne joined Everton from Barcelona in August 2018 and has gone on to play over 120 games for the club.

Rafa unconcerned by banner calling for exit
Rafael Benitez insists he is not worried for his future at Everton despite a banner in the away end calling for his exit during the Toffees’ 3-2 FA Cup third-round win at Hull on Saturday.

Everton’s victory was just their second in 13 matches, a run of form that has seen pressure rise on former Liverpool boss Benitez.

The rare win was not enough to spare the Spaniard from the fans’ ire, with the banner reading ‘Benitez get out of our club’ visible during the game.

But when asked if he was worried, Benitez said: “No. What I said before – the problems that you try to fix are coming from a time ago.

“It’s not that in the last three months we have different issues, so the issues are similar and you try to fix that.

“I have experience to do it. I will try to do my best. If some fans understand that, they will support the team. That is the main thing, to stay behind the team.

“If they don’t understand that some of them, it’s fine, it’s up to them. But I will continue trying to do my best, be professional and be sure that we can improve what depends on us.”

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