Aston Villa have joined the race to sign the top young talent from South America for the future transfer.

Aston Villa seems to really turn to the talents across the continent more in the future rather than local ones. The NSWE long term plan to take over South American sides, their search for top scouts to search more talents there and eyeing a number of targets from Latin America have indicated Villa’s plan to secure more signings from there. 

Their latest target is the 15-year-old versatile Ecuadorian who has been stealing the show in his homesoil, Luis Fragozo. According to the official X account of Federacion Postera, The Lions apparently are not the only ones who are in pursuit of the young midfielder. 

“Aston Villa is one of the teams chasing after Luis Fragozo. The prestigious Premier League team is said to have inquired about the conditions for the young talent from CS Emelec.“

His current situation 

Fragozo was promoted to the first team of Emelec in 2025 when he was still 15 years 20 days old. He has been playing regularly ever since, which has caught the media’s attention. 

Aston Villa is the current team which has made an inquiry to sign him. The Lions are not the first one, Brighton is their contender to secure his move in the future. It is not yet confirmed the price tag Emelec has put on him. His current value is £ 2.58 million but it could potentially rise following the interest from Europe. 

Unfortunately, Fragozo could not fly to the UK and play for either of them soon. Based on the FIFA regulation, a foreign youngster can only sign for a contract with the Premier League club at the age of 18. He is currently 16 years old and would only turn 18 in April 2028. 

The least Villa and Brighton could do beforehand is holding talks with his club and wait. They could still seal the deal prior to his arrival in the future. 

How good is Luis Fragozo?

Fragozo has featured for Emelec in 40 games so far. He has contributed one goal and five assists in the process. He is mainly deployed as left back but he can also operate on the right flank as wing back or winger. 

His versatility could even stretch out to the role as central midfielder, and attacking midfielder. Fragozo can also play as a frontman too. 

Based on the stats in FotMob, his form this season has been stunning. In the domestic league, he has made 39 shots, 11 of them were on target. His rate for successful passes is 71.8 %, while his accurate long balls is only 33.3 %. 

The Riohacha-born winger has created 16 chances with four of which were big chances. His rate for successful dribbles can reach up to 40.5 % whereas his winning duel rate is 42.7 %. The youngster who was already called up for the senior team last May before the 2026 FIFA World Cup has contributed heavily in his defence too. He made 27 defensive contributions, including 17 tackles, 5 interceptions, 5 clearances plus 47 recoveries.  

It will be interesting to see how long he would wait to make his senior debut. Fragozo has been capped six times with U17 side and helped Ecuador U17 advanced to final four in Copa America U17 last April.