Man Utd and England midfielder linked with January transfer move to Aston Villa

Manchester United midfielder Lucy Staniforth a target for Carla Ward’s ambitious Aston Villa side this January, according to reports.

The Midlands outfit have already made a splash in the January transfer market with the permanent signing of England international Jordan Nobbs, who signed from Arsenal yesterday for a fee rumoured to be around £30,000. Now Villa are looking to bring a second Lionesses to the club and have been credited with an interest in the United midfielder as confirmed by BBC Sport journalist Emma Sanders - though we understand they will face competition from fellow Women’s Super League (WSL) side Everton, who would also like to secure her signature this month.

Staniforth is out of contract at the end of the season and has found game time difficult to come by this season due to the form of Katie Zelem and Hayley Ladd. The 30-year-old did not travel with the squad for United’s tour of Malta this month either, indicating her two and a half year stay at the Red Devil’s could be coming to an end.

United were strongly credited with a move for Brann midfielder Lisa Naalsund yesterday, with reports stating the club were already in negotiations with the Norway international over a move to Manchester.

Brought to the club by former head coach Casey Stoney from Birmingham City, Staniforth hailed United as “the biggest club in the world” on her arrival in the summer of 2020 and has featured a total of 30 times in the WSL.

The midfielder has been capped by England a total of 17 times and was part of Phil Neville’s World Cup squad in 2019 while she also formed part of Sarina Wiegman’s prelimanary squad for last summer’s European Championship.

And, with game time limited so far this season, Staniforth could be open to a move to another WSL side in order to give herself the best possible opportunity of breaking into the Lionesses squad for this summer’s World Cup. Much like Nobbs, a move to the Midlands could ignite her international career.