Plymouth Argyle set to sign soon-to-be Aston Villa player | OneFootball

Ian Foster has only been in the role of Plymouth Argyle head coach for a few weeks, but he has had to get busy along with director of football Neil Dewsnip in the transfer market.

The Pilgrims have been pretty much decimated in the month of January with loan recalls, which has come off the back of them having a very solid first half of the Championship season, and the powers-that-be at Home Park have had to replenish the squad with new youngsters.

Five new players have signed for Argyle, with new loanees in Alfie Devine, Ash Phillips and Darko Gyabi arriving, whilst the permanent additions of Adam Forshaw and Matthew Sorinola have further bolster Foster's options to hand - and it looks like Plymouth are set to add at least one more new player to their squad before Thursday's transfer deadline.

Plymouth's latest transfer swoop though includes two Premier League big-hitters who are set to strike a deal for a player that is ending up at Home Park.

Arsenal and Aston Villa are set to complete a transfer deal in the final stages of the January window that will see young left-back Lino Sousa head to Unai Emery's side - but Plymouth Argyle have emerged as a key piece of the puzzle too.

19-year-old Sousa is set to complete a permanent move to Villa Park, but instead of moving into the Midlands outfit's first-team or under-21's, he is set to head straight out on loan.

And after recalling both Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Finn Azaz from Home Park earlier on in the transfer window, Villa are now set to send Sousa to Devon for the remainder of the season, where he could figure as a like-for-like Kesler-Hayden replacement as he spent much of his time out at left wing-back for the Pilgrims.

Portugal-born Sousa only joined Arsenal in the summer of 2022 from West Bromwich Albion, and in his first season with the Gunners he played 23 times at under-21's level whilst also featuring five times in the under-18's run to the FA Youth Cup final.

Sousa, who has been capped by England at five different youth levels, has played nine times at under-21 level for Arsenal in 2023-24, scoring three goals, and recently made it into a senior matchday squad in the Gunners' FA Cup third round clash against Liverpool.

He will now head to Villa though on a permanent basis to continue his long-term development, but Plymouth are the ones that are set to profit in the short-term at the very least.

When the deal is done, Sousa will be the fourth England youth international that Plymouth have signed this month since the arrival of Foster to replace Steven Schumacher.

With his many years in the Three Lions coaching setup at youth level, Foster knows many of these players and bigger clubs are clearly trusting him with the responsibility of giving the likes of Devine, Gyabi, Phillips and Sousa regular game-time.

The likes of Finn Azaz and Morgan Whittaker have thrived at Plymouth this season, and big managers are starting to take notice that Home Park is one of the best places to send an emerging talent.

And whilst Plymouth already have a number of options at left-back or left wing-back, Sousa will help to boost the competition in that area - or it could mean Mickel Miller is potentially on his way with less than six months remaining on his contract.