Transfer rumours: Lenglet to stay at Villa, Soyuncu battle, Meija to Sevilla

The Barcelona-owned centre-back has often struggled to displace Diego Carlos, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa in the Villans' rearguard, playing just 10 matches in all competitions this season.

Lenglet has earned five starts in the Europa Conference League, but he has featured from the first whistle on just four occasions in the Premier League and did not even make his debut in the top flight until December.

The Frenchman's peripheral standing has led to suggestions that he could call time on his Villa Park stint early amid talk of interest from AC Milan, but according to The Independent, that will not be the case.

The report states that Lenglet will not be leaving Unai Emery's side midway through the campaign, even though all of Lyon, Napoli and Monaco had also registered their interest in his services.

After failing to earn any minutes in Villa's opening 17 Premier League matches, Lenglet has made the first XI in each of their last four top-flight games thanks to Torres's recent ankle injury.

While Lenglet will not be on the move this month, one centre-back who could be seeking pastures new is Caglar Soyuncu, who has also been a bit-part player during his time with Atletico Madrid.

The 27-year-old ended a mixed spell at Leicester City over the summer to join Diego Simeone's side, but he has featured on just nine occasions for his new club so far this season.

A groin injury has also hampered Soyuncu's debut season at the Wanda Metropolitano, and his solitary start in La Liga saw him taken off after just 45 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao last month.

Despite his long-running contract until 2027, Soyuncu could be on the move in the near future, and A Bola - via Sport Witness - claims that Fenerbahce have taken steps to try to bring him back to Turkey.

However, Soyuncu supposedly has no intention of returning to the Super Lig at this juncture, leaving the door open for Fulham, Porto and Roma to battle for his signature in the coming weeks.

The Portuguese side have apparently positioned themselves at the head of the queue by making enquiries with Soyuncu's representatives and Atletico over a loan deal, which the Rojiblancos would be expected to sanction.

At the other end of the field, Wolverhampton Wanderers have supposedly failed with a bid to sign Soyuncu's fellow Turk Semih Kilicsoy.

The 18-year-old striker is enjoying a breakthrough campaign with Super Lig giants Besiktas, scoring six goals in 15 matches across all tournaments, and he has particularly risen to prominence over the past few weeks.

Kilicsoy has struck five goals across Besiktas' last four top-flight matches, and earlier this month, the club agreed a new long-term deal with their teenage starlet until the summer of 2028.

In addition, Kilicsoy has five goals to show from six games for Turkey's Under-19s, netting three times in their most recent Euros qualifiers against Belarus and Greece.

The striker's renewal did not stop Wolves from trying their luck with a winter bid, according to Turkish outlet Haberturk, but the West Midlands club were swiftly rebuffed.

Gary O'Neil's side have lost the in-form Hwang Hee-chan to Asian Cup duty for the next few weeks, while Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic have joined Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt on loan respectively.

However, one young attacker set to depart for pastures new this month is 20-year-old Manchester United winger Mateo Mejia, who is supposedly on the verge of a permanent switch to Sevilla.

The Colombia youth international - who was born in Spain - joined the Red Devils' youth academy from Real Zaragoza in 2019 and has excelled at Under-21 level for the club this season.

Mejia has banked three goals and five assists from nine appearances in the Premier League 2 this season, but he is yet to catch the eye of Erik ten Hag and is still waiting for his first-team debut.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Mejia - whose contract runs out at the end of the season - is now set to end his Old Trafford spell and join La Liga strugglers Sevilla on a permanent deal.

Romano claims that Sevilla have negotiated a free transfer thanks to Mejia's contract situation, and all the necessary paperwork is expected to go through next week.

Man United are reportedly set to retain a 25% sell-on clause for the 2003-born winger, who earned two caps for Colombia's Under-20s in a pair of friendlies with Peru in December 2022.