ASTON VILLA have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe.
Steve Bruce is chasing a loan deal for centre-back Tuanzebe until the end of the Championship campaign.
The 20-year-old is on the fringes of the first team at Old Trafford, having featured just three times in all competitions this season.
Jose Mourinho is aware that Tuanzebe is well down the pecking and is willing to sanction a temporary move.
“I have a squad of 32 players and I want to keep squad of 32 players,” he said.
Maybe just because I want to make the kid a good player and I’m not giving him the chances I’m giving to Scott McTominay, for example.
“Axel Tuanzebe plays in a position where I have so many players, today on the bench I had Marcos Rojo and Victor Lindelof, and Eric Bailly is still in recovery, so I’m not giving the chances to Axel.
“So probably Axel is the only one that I open the door for him to go and play because I believe he is a really good talent and he needs to play.
“Apart from that, the numbers we have, we are playing Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League, I have to keep the number of players we have.”
Villa boss Bruce has limited back up in central defence for the first-choice pairing of John Terry and James Chester.
Tuanzebe is also capable of playing at right-back and in midfield.
Bruce revealed last Friday that he is closing in on a signing but refused to reveal the player in question.
“Until we’ve got them over the line, out of respect for the clubs we’re talking to I can’t really reveal it,” he said.
Source:www.express.co.uk