Villa move would be 'an honour' for Bastia

Argentinian midfielder Adrian Jesus Bastia has spelt out his desire to play for Aston Villa, who are being linked with the £2m-rated Racing Club player.

Villa manager Graham Taylor is starting to lay the foundations for when the transfer market reopens on January 1 – with the tough tackling Bastia reported to be one of his prime targets.

Taylor is keeping close tabs on the player before deciding whether to make a concrete move to try to secure his services.

But Bastia said: “I hear Aston Villa have an interest in me and I like that club. I have watched them on television and they have some players like Juan Pablo Angel that I played against in Argentina.

“It will be a great honour for me to play in a team with their history.”

Bastia is a player with the combative qualities of George Boateng, who was by sold by Taylor to Middlesbrough in the summer.

But he also has the kind of creative spark Villa have seldom shown since the transfer of Paul Merson to First Division leaders Portsmouth earlier this season.

Twenty-three-year-old Bastia was also linked with Villa during the reign of previous manager John Gregory.

But Taylor does not have unlimited funds at his disposal and he is looking to offload from his squad so he can add new blood.

Transfer-listed central defender Alpay is a prime candidate to be on the move in January and Taylor has admitted it would probably be in everyone’s interests for the Turkish international to find new pastures.

He has effectively written him out of his first team plans and Alpay returned from playing for his country in the 1-1 draw against Italy in midweek to train with the reserves.

Midfielder Steve Stone – currently on loan at Portsmouth – out of favour left-back Alan Wright and club record signing Angel, who has scored only one Barclaycard Premiership goal this season, could also be sold if Taylor has his way and can find some prospective buyers.