Aston Villa could revive their interest in Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi over the coming months, journalist Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.

The west Midlands outfit were heavily linked with a move for the talented 23-year-old throughout January but failed to add him to Unai Emery’s squad for the second half of the season.

Aston Villa transfer news – Matteo Guendouzi

CBS reporter Ben Jacobs claimed halfway through the winter window that Marseille were set to demand €50 million (£44m) for Guendouzi after he has successfully rebuilt his career at the club.

However, it was also believed that Villa were only planning on making an initial offer worth between €25m (£22m) and €30m (£26.5m) for the France international.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano then told GMS that the Villans were still yet to make an ‘official bid’ for Guendouzi around two weeks after Jacobs first broke the news of their interest, though.

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French outlet L’Equipe did then claim that the Villa hierarchy made the combative midfielder a ‘fabulous offer’ but a bid seemingly failed to arrive at Marseille’s door.

Only time will tell if Villa manager Unai Emery retains his interest in Guendouzi or whether he moves his attention to alternative targets in the summer.

What has Jones said about Guendouzi?

Jones has revealed that it ‘wouldn’t surprise’ him to see talk of Guendouzi moving to Villa surface once more but that his future may also depend on how Marseille finish the campaign.

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In an interview with GMS, he said: “It wouldn't surprise me if the link came back onto the radar.

“I’d say it also depends how Marseille’s season plays out. I think they had a reasonably good transfer window themselves, and it might be quite an exciting place for him to be.”

How well has Guendouzi been playing?

Guendouzi has been one of the star performers in an impressive Marseille side in the first half of 2022/23, registering four goals and four assists in 27 appearances across all competitions.

The Ligue 1 giants are currently sitting in second place in the top-flight table and are only five points adrift of league leaders Paris Saint-Germain with a place in next season’s Champions League firmly in their grasp.

As per FBref, Guendouzi has also ranked in the 88th percentile for progressive passes received and the 86th for touches in the attacking penalty area amongst his positional peers over the last year.

Villa could make another astute acquisition if they finally manage to secure Guendouzi’s signature, but they are some way off from doing that at this moment in time.