Aston Villa have now held talks with people close to the Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi over a potential return to the Premier League for the Frenchman.

What's the latest?

Guendouzi has now been playing his football outside of England since 2020 having been loaned out to Hertha Berlin and Marseille before the Ligue 1 side made the deal permanent last summer.

However, it now appears a return to the Premier League could be on the cards for the 23-year-old with Unai Emery keen to bring the midfielder to Villa Park.

There have been reports suggesting the midfielder is still a big admirer of the Spanish manager who would be open to bringing in Guendouzi either this month or in the summer.

And speaking on the House of Champions YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the interest coming from Villa Park in the 23-year-old midfielder:

"It is true that Aston Villa want the player. They spoke to people close to the player. It is true, as we know, that Unai Emery is a big fan of Guendouzi so they have this great connection. This is why they had some contacts.

"As of now, Olympique Marseille have not received any official bid. So I was checking also a few minutes ago and Marseille are still waiting to see if Aston Villa will arrive with a big proposal. Villa are working on it."

Reuniting with Emery

Emery and Guendouzi have previous. The former Arsenal men are familiar with one another following their time in north London where the midfielder played a significant role under Emery.

Across their time together at Arsenal, Guendouzi made 66 appearances under the Spaniard across all competitions before Emery was sacked in the late stages of 2019.

In comparison to Villa's Boubacar Kamara, the Frenchman has provided Marseille with more goals and assists, passes per 90, shot-creating actions per 90, but does not stack up against his fellow countryman in terms of tackles per game (via Fbref).

But Guendouzi has played a big role at Marseille this season, the 23-year-old has made 23 appearances across all competitions already this season.

And on top of the goal and three assists he has provided in Ligue 1, Guendouzi also shone in their Champions League campaign which saw the Frenchman net two goals in the games against Sporting CP and Eintracht Frankfurt (via Transfermarkt).

So it will certainly be interesting to see whether Villa can prise Guendouzi away from Marseille given the player has been integral to Igor Tudor's side thus far.

But there could naturally be the lure of playing in the Premier League following his time at Arsenal and who better to play under than the familiar face of his former manager?