TBR Football understands that Premier League trio Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham have all joined the race to sign Hoffenheim star Fisnik Asllani – though they face competition from Barcelona for his signing.
All of the Premier League trio had busy summer transfer windows, especially Tottenham, who sacked Ange Postecoglou to bring in current boss Thomas Frank.
With the season now well and truly underway, results in both the Premier League and in European competition are key to determining how much January business will be done.
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And that has seen Tottenham, Aston Villa and Chelsea also take an interest in 23-year-old forward Fisnik Asllani, who has been on fire for Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim over the course of the season.
Fisnik Asllani of Hoffenheim celebrates scoring in the Bundesliga
Photo by Jürgen Fromme – firo sportphoto/Getty Images
Exclusive: Premier League trio join Barcelona in race for Fisnik Asllani
TBR Football understands that Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham have joined the growing list of suitors for the Kosovo international, alongside Manchester City.
Asllani spent last season on loan at second-tier German side SV Elversberg, scoring 18 goals in 33 games as they missed out on automatic promotion to the Bundesliga by one point – before a last-minute defeat against Heidenheim in the promotion/relegation play-off condemned them to another year of second division football.
That earned him a return to Hoffenheim, and he’s continued in the same manner with four goals in just seven Bundesliga games, as well as scoring twice for Kosovo in five caps.
That has attracted interest from across the continent, including Barcelona, who are looking at long-term replacements for Robert Lewandowski.
Robert Lewandowski – season La Liga games La Liga goals
2022-23 34 23
2023-24 35 19
2024-25 34 27
2025-26 7 4
Asllani is shining in both scouting reports and in analytics, which highlighted him for in-person missions, impressing on both counts.
Although Barcelona lead the race, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Tottenham could all be in the market for a new striker next summer. Ollie Watkins has been criticised so far for Villa this season, whilst Dominic Solanke has been out with injury, and Liam Delap’s £30million move to Chelsea from Ipswich hasn’t seen him play too much.
TBR Football’s chief correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed: “Asllani is a player who has massively stood out via analytics, but scouts are also purring about him.
“Barcelona have been hugely impressed but they are not alone, the English clubs and others are now fully aware of him and are tracking him now.
“Asllani is a name we are going to be hearing a lot more about.”
If Asllani keeps up his form in Germany, he could find a move to the Premier League is closer than he realises.
Fisnik Asllani playing for Hoffenheim vs Bayern Munich
Photo by Helge Prang – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images
Hoffenheim are only a small club in reality, hailing from a town called Sinsheim, which has just 37,000 people.
But there have been some incredible Premier League strikers to have plied their trade at the Bundesliga club.
Most notably, Liverpool signed Roberto Firmino from the German outfit, where he scored 38 Bundesliga goals in 140 games before his Anfield switch.
The Brazilian was a fan favourite on Merseyside, scoring 111 goals in 362 and winning the Champions League before Firmino departed to the Saudi Pro League in 2023.
Demba Ba is another who came through the ranks at Hoffenheim. He fired them to Bundesliga promotion in 2008, before notching 25 top-flight goals in 67 games prior to a move to England, where he starred for West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea.
If Asllani can follow in their footsteps, he could be a shrewd addition for any club who look to bring him in.