Aston Villa target Lutsharel Geertruida set to join RB Leipzig | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano and Sky Germany both report that Feyenoord defender Lutsharel Geertruida is set to join RB Leipzig as the replacement for Mohamed Simakan.

The fee is said to be worth €25m for the 24-year-old, this will be a chunk of the fee that Leipzig is going to receive for Simakan who is on the verge of joining Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr for around €40m.

Leipzig had explored the possibility of signing António Silva from Benfica but a deal was unlikely to materials. Geertruida was always Leipzig’s number one option. The Dutch international is a versatile defender as he can not only play at centre-back but also as a right-back, meaning he is a like-for-like change for Simakan and could even be a slight improvement on the Frenchman.

This will be Leipzig’s fourth signing of the window after bringing in Assan Ouedraogo permanently as well as Xavi Simons and Arthur Vermeeren on loan.

Geertruida was also linked with a move to Premier League side Aston Villa but ultimately nothing materialised and Leipzig decided to move for the defender, who they were interested in last summer as well.

GGFN | Jack Meenan