Aston Villa to move quickly after joining race for speedster Jeremiah St. Juste

Aston Villa have joined the race to sign Mainz defender Jeremiah St. Juste, but they will have to move quickly, according to a report.

Billed as the fastest player in the Bundesliga, St. Juste has a number of clubs tracking his progress. West Ham, Leicester and Sporting are all keen on the centre-back, whose top speed this season has hit 36.63kph. That puts the 25-year-old ahead of Alphonso Davies, Erling Haaland and Leroy Sane in the sprinting stakes.

To add some context, Wolves speedster Adama Traore’s top speed this season is 38kph.

With regards a transfer for the defender though, Sporting are understood to be out in front.

Jornal de Notícias reports that Sporting are trying to wrap up a deal for the player quickly. The Portuguese club want to try to “avoid” a bidding war with other clubs.

And one of those clubs is now Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. They are the new club mentioned by the source and the “the last club who want to follow the player’s process”.

Villa are looking to strengthen their defence this summer and  rumoured transfer target Matthias Ginter has completed a move to Freiburg.

Sporting are said to be ready to make an offer of around €9m for the player, with performance-related add-ons.

Record, via Sport Witness, have also claimed that Sporting are close to reaching an agreement on a deal worth €10m on St. Juste.

They reported on Wednesday that interest had “intensified” in recent hours, and the agreement with Mainz was imminent.

St. Juste has been plagued by shoulder problems this season and has played just eight times in the Bundesliga.

After undergoing an operation on his right shoulder last year, the Dutch defender decided in February to have surgery on his left shoulder.

“This hasn’t been an easy