Atletico Madrid in shock talks for Aston Villa defender

Atletico Madrid have opened talks with Aston Villa for the signing of left-back Jordan Amavi, reports L’Equipe, via Get French Football.

Villa are poised for a big summer clear out and Amavi could be one of up to 10 players sold by Steve Bruce after the 56-year-old was told he would need to sell before he can add to his squad.

Amavi joined Villa from Nice in a deal worth £10m in 2015 and made an impressive start to life in his first season at the club before a serious knee injury ruled him out of action for nearly 10 months.

The France U21 international has struggled to establish himself as first choice under Bruce in the Championship this season and is now a reported target of Atletico, who will need to sign another left-back with Theo Hernandez on the verge of joining rivals Real Madrid.

Diego Simeone wants to sign a back-up defender to Filipe Luis but could face competition from Napoli, who are preparing for the departure of Faouzi Ghoulam.

After joining Villa completing the most tackles and interceptions combined in the 2014/15 Ligue 1 campaign (303), Amavi has gone from averaging 3.9 and 4.6 tackles and interceptions per game, respectively, to just 1.9 and 1.7 this time around.

For more stats on Jordan Amavi, click her to visit his WhoScored player page