Aston Villa transfer news: £86m Alejandro Garnacho replacement 'scouted' amid Tottenham, Atletico Madrid battle

Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are supposedly both keeping tabs on controversial Benfica 20-year-old Gianluca Prestianni.

The 2006-born attacker is best known for an unsavoury incident with Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior during last season's Champions League, in which he was alleged to have racially abused the Brazilian in their playoff clash.

Prestianni - who vehemently denied the allegations - was cleared of racially abusing Vinicius, but was found guilty of using a homophobic slur and was handed a six-match ban, three of which were suspended.

However, Prestianni has impressed on the pitch this season, scoring eight goals and setting up three more in 12 appearances for Benfica, catching the eye of Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni in the process.

Prestianni was not included in La Albiceleste's World Cup 2026 squad, but he has been called up for the triple-header with Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin during the current international break.

Tottenham, Aston Villa to battle for Gianluca Prestianni?

© Imago / Atlantico Press

Now, a report from O Jogo - via SportWitness - claims that Tottenham, Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid have all been keeping tabs on the winger's progress this season and plan to watch him during the international break.

Villa appear to have taken the most concrete steps toward a possible deal, having sent scouts to watch Prestianni in action during Benfica's crunch Primeira Liga clash with Porto last Sunday.

Benfica fell to a 3-1 defeat to the Dragons, but Prestianni nevertheless claimed an assist for Alexander Bah's header, his eighth goal involvement in seven league games this season.

However, any interested party would have to pay a premium to prise Prestianni away from Benfica, who have the 20-year-old under contract until 2029 with a €100m (£86m) release clause.

Benfica paid just €9m (£7.7m) to sign Prestianni from Velez Sarsfield in 2024, since when the youngster has come up with 12 goals and 11 assists in 68 games in all tournaments for the Portuguese giants.

Tottenham or Aston Villa: Who needs Gianluca Prestianni more?

© Iconsport / SUSA

Tottenham spent a good portion of the summer transfer window strengthening their wide ranks, bringing in Savio, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Omar Marmoush, who has functioned out wide with Dominic Solanke up front on some occasions this season.

However, the Lilywhites are still lacking a world-class, ruthless number nine, and should therefore prioritise the acquisition of such a player over another £86m wide man.

Meanwhile, Alejandro Garnacho is yet to start a Premier League game for Villa since joining on loan from Chelsea, and there has already been talk of a potential termination in January.

Therefore, Prestianni could act as a like-for-like replacement for Garnacho at Villa Park, although the Argentine may be tempted by the pull of working with compatriot Diego Simeone at Atletico.