Aston Villa face Newcastle United in the race to sign a striker who could take Jhon Duran’s role and has an £85 million release clause, according to a new report.
Aston Villa set to ‘sell’ women’s team to pass PSR test
The Villans had very limited time to raise funds before the end of June and were facing the prospect of selling key first-team players, but have now agreed a deal to sell their women’s team to holding company V Sports, and they now believe they have no issue when it comes to PSR.
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He’s also scored at the Club World Cup.
This will come as good news for supporters and perhaps even more so for Unai Emery – defender Lucas Digne has already held talks with Atletico Madrid over a move to Spain, but he was just one of a number of players linked with moves away.
Emiliano Martínez, Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana have been mentioned as possible sales, and journalist Wayne Veysey even claimed that Villa have told agents that they are now ready to sell Ollie Watkins.
His report stated that the Villans would be open to selling the striker before Monday to meet with PSR, but that stance looks likely to change.
Aston Villa in race with Newcastle for Samu
With Watkins now looking set to stay at Villa Park, the Villans are in the market for some competition for the English striker. According to O Jogo, relayed by Caught Offside, Aston Villa are interested in signing Samu Aghehowa from FC Porto.
The report states that the 21-year-old will cost €100 million, which is roughly £85 million, as his club will demand his full release clause. Porto have no intention of selling their star player at the moment, so NSWE would have to trigger the huge fee to force a deal.
Despite only being 21, Samu has already shown enormous talent and ability, which has now put him on the radar of teams across Europe. The Spain international scored 19 goals in 30 Liga Portugal games last season, as well as a further six in the Europa League.
The report claims Villa chiefs appreciate his enormous physical presence, which could help him succeed in England.
Aghehowa’s potential arrival at Villa Park would see the Midlands side find a replacement for Jhon Duran, who left back in January. Duran was of course himself a very physical presence, but Samu could offer even more given his larger frame – standing at 6 foot 4 – and more clinical goal record.
His arrival at Villa could see him and Watkins form a frightening partnership in the Premier League and potentially be more successful than Watkins and Duran were, with Emery never quite finding the right system to deploy the pair at the same time.
