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Leicester City winger Harvey Barnes top of Aston Villa’s summer wish list

Leicester City star Harvey Barnes is one of Villa’s top winger targets heading into the summer transfer window.

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The former Albion loanee is not the only player on Villa’s shortlist but is admired by sporting director Johan Lange and a deal could become particularly attractive should the Foxes be relegated from the Premier League.

Villa’s summer plans will move up a gear next week with head coach Unai Emery for now focusing his attention on this Sunday’s season finale against Brighton.

The head coach wants to recruit a striker and a winger with Barnes a primary candidate for the latter position, after scoring 12 Premier League goals in a struggling team this term. Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams has also been linked.

Emery’s knowledge of the Spanish game means signings from La Liga are to be expected but Villa will not ignore other markets with the January signing of Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire, pushed for by Lange, evidence of their desire to cast the recruitment net far and wide.

Barnes, 25, has scored 44 goals in 182 total appearances for the Foxes.

He also netted nine times for the Baggies while on loan at The Hawthorns during the first half of the 2018-19 season.