Lamare Bogarde close to agreeing new long-term Aston Villa contract

Lamare Bogarde is close to finalising a new long-term contract at Aston Villa.

The 20-year-old has been the subject of well-documented interest from Nottingham Forest but manager Unai Emery wants the defender to remain at Villa Park with Diego Carlos’ future in doubt and in the case of his departure, the club are expected to replace him.

Regardless, Bogarde, who can play at centre-back or as a holding midfielder, is currently expected to stay and fight for first-team football rather than head out on loan.

He is yet to make his first-team debut for the club since joining from Feyenoord in 2020.

The Dutch-born defender was the only player to complete the full 90 minutes of Villa’s season 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening.

He previously made 36 appearances during two separate loan spells with Bristol Rovers, joining the League One side in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign before returning for the first six months of last term.

Aston Villa begin the new Premier League campaign at West Ham United on August 17.

The Midlands side have bolstered their squad with eight summer signings so far as the club prepares for Champions League football next season.

(Christian Hofer/Getty Images)

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Jacob is a football reporter covering Aston Villa for The Athletic. Previously, he followed Southampton FC for The Athletic after spending three years writing about south coast football, working as a sports journalist for Reach PLC. In 2021, he was awarded the Football Writers' Association Student Football Writer of the Year. Follow Jacob on Twitter @J_Tanswell