Newcastle And Aston Villa "Go Head To Head" For £18m Champions League Star

Newcastle United and Aston Villa are in a head-to-head battle for the signature of AS Monaco's Aymen Abdennour, according the a report in the Sunday Times (paywall). The paper claims that The Villains "have stated their intention" to meet the French club's £18 million asking price for the centre back, who attracted the interest of Barcelona earlier this summer. The Magpies, on the other hand, are reportedly hoping to negotiate the Ligue 1 side down from their valuation of the Tunisian, who despite having a hefty price tag on his head earns a minuscule (for a top level player, at least) £725,000 per year after tax. Abdennour played a full 90 minutes as Monaco knocked Arsenal out of last season's Champions League round of 16 on away goals. His performance during the first leg at The Emirates was described as a "beastly display" in The Express, which tells you all you need to know about the player. In fact, WhatCulture.com/NUFC has already detailed '10 Things You Need To Know About' the former Werder Bremen man. Reports linking the 26-year-old with a move to Newcastle intensified last Wednesday after @FNN_Official - a Manchester City researcher, RPL correspondent, Covering Moscow's football teams, Transfer correspondent for Russian Football News, and Ligue 1 admirer no less - tweeted that a deal had been agreed between for the sale of the defender. He said: "Led to believe AS Monaco and Newcastle are close to an agreement for the sale of Aymen Abdennour." The Toon and Villa will have been put on high alert earlier in this summer's window after rumours of a move to AC Milan culminated with the player's representatives insisting their client did not want to move to Italy, instead favouring a transfer to either England or Spain. Aymen's agent, Abdelkader Jilani, said: "Abdennour wants to play in the Premier League or La Liga, not in Italy." This led to rumours of a move to West Ham United, amongst others, but Jilani simply added: "The path leading to West Ham is closed." Is the one to Newcastle open? For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCulture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.