Aston Villa have reportedly identified a former Barcelona defender as a desired transfer target for the January window.
Sitting just four points adrift of the top four in the Premier League table, Unai Emery can be satisfied with Villa's first half of the campaign when also negotiating a Champions League schedule.
However, as well as conceding 32 goals during 20 top-flight fixtures, Villa have recently suffered a major injury blow at the back.
Pau Torres is in line to miss two months of action with a broken metatarsal, putting a strain on a Villa backline when Unai Emery has not necessarily been in a rush to use Tyrone Mings after a serious knee injury.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Villa have just instigated talks with Celta Vigo to sign one of their key defenders.
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Mingueza on Villa radar
Villa's recruitment team are seemingly keen to secure a deal for Oscar Mingueza over the coming weeks to add greater depth to their options at the back.
The 25-year-old has starred for Celta Vigo this season, contributing two goals and five assists from his 17 starts in La Liga.
All but two of those outings have been from wing-back - either right or left - which is not a position that Emery's uses courtesy of deploying a back four.
Nevertheless, Mingueza may seemingly be signed to provide extra experience on the flanks when Ezri Konsa will be required more centrally.
Although Mingueza is no stranger to being used as a centre-back, he has rarely been used there for Celta Vigo at a time when he has earned his second cap for Spain.
A release of €20m (£16.61m) is said to be present in Mingueza's contract, which has 18 months left to run.
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Big-game experience
Mingueza initially made his name for Barcelona having come through the academy setup, going on to accumulate 66 appearances in all competitions.
The Catalan giants allowed him to leave for just €3m in July 2022 when they were continuing to suffer with their well-documented financial issues.
As many as 12 outings were racked up in the Champions League and Europa League, albeit never coming up against a Premier League side during that period.
Darren Plant
