Villa Park
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Aston Villa are reportedly watching Beninese wonderkid Rodolfo Aloko this summer, amid interest from clubs around England and further afield in Europe.
Aloko, who is 18, plays in Croatia for Custosija, who he joined from Benin club Dynamo Abomey back in February. He made his senior debut for Benin in a match against Morocco in June. Already Villa, Brighton and Hove Albion, Sevilla, Eintracht Frankfurt and Red Bull Leipzig have been linked with moves for Aloko.
Custosija have developed a reputation in recent years for identifying and nurturing exciting young talents from around the world and they've made a healthy profit in doing so, selling some of the prospects who they've moulded to the likes of Barcelona, Leipzig and Dean Smith's Charlotte FC in MLS.
Villa are keen on Aloko, the next player who looks set to step off the Custosija talent conveyor belt, but that the Lions - or indeed any club who wishes to pursue a deal for the teenager - will have to cough up as much as £4.75m to acquire him, how highly the club rate him.
Villa have successfully scoured Europe in recent years, particularly in the NSWE era, to recruit young and exciting talents with high ceilings; Kosta Nedeljkovic joined last summer, while the likes of Andres Garcia, Yasin Ozcan and, this summer, Zepiqueno Redmond are all examples of Villa snaring prospects at the beginning of their careers.
What should Villa do in the summer window?
adidas Aston Villa range - how to get yours!
Aston Villa have announced that they are selling a new range of fashion items that fans are going to be clamouring to get hold of ahead of the new season - including a limited edition of the iconic adidas Samba range.
The Villa colours are displayed on the trainers and they also show off the Villa badge.
You can also find an adidas DNA hoody which comes in simple Villa colours and a low key traditional adidas design.
The same design can be found on classic adidas track top on offer, this is the type of track top that fans love to wear -
The DNA range continues with a claret and blue t-shirt - , and on the training pants which can also be matched with any of the items -
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