Aston Villa have €7m bid for Ligue 1 midfielder rejected

Angers have rejected a €7m (£6.4m) bid from Aston Villa for defensive midfielder Baptiste Santamaria, reports L’Equipe.

Villa have made 10 signings and invested more than £100m on new players this summer but haven’t finished their spending spree just yet.

Dean Smith is hopeful of bringing in at least three new players before the transfer window for English clubs shuts on August 8.

Villa’s pursuit of Santamaria will raise eyebrows among supporters given the transfer business already conducted by the club.

The newly promoted Premier League outfit have already signed Douglas Luiz from Manchester City and are understood to have clinched a deal for Marvelous Nakamba from Club Brugge.

An announcement on Nakamba’s arrival was expected last week and Villa’s surprise interest in Santamaria may suggest they have encountered some issues getting a deal over the line for the 25-year-old.

Santamaria has been a first-team regular for Angers for the last three years and has started 102 of a possible 114 league matches in that time.

Furthermore, only Bordeaux midfielder Otavio (127) completed more tackles than Santamaria (118) in Ligue 1 last season.