Aston Villa are set to make a move for Sporting Lisbon star Pedro Goncalves in the summer transfer window, despite his injury struggles this season, according to Sport Witness.
Villa have seen their league form suffer this season in comparison to the last campaign, in no small part due to the club having secured Champions League football for the first time in four decades. Even with that being considered, the Villans are still well within the hunt to qualify for continental football once again.
In the Champions League, Villa look well-poised to progress to the quarter-finals, having taken a 3-1 lead over Club Brugge in the first leg of their round of 16 clash. It is the latest success in the revolution Unai Emery has led since arriving at the club, taking them from relegation contenders to consistently battling to finish inside the top eight of the Premier League.
Villa made statements of intent in the January transfer window, signing Axel Disasi, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford on loan to help their push for a higher league finish. It would appear that the club already have an eye on the coming summer transfer window too.
Villa Like Goncalves
Sporting star has faced injury struggles this season
Pedro Goncalves Sporting CP
Despite losing manager Ruben Amorim to Manchester United earlier in the season, Sporting have maintained their standard and sit atop the Liga Portugal table in their defence of the title that they won last season. The club may have been eliminated from the Champions League, but are still on track to win some silverware this season.
Sporting have done this without much input from Pedro Goncalves, who has spent much of the campaign on the sidelines. Goncalves, who has been described as a "superstar" in the past, has been with the club since 2020 and was a crucial part of the Amorim side that found so much success, but a muscle injury has limited him to just 12 appearances in all competitions throughout the campaign.
Pedro Goncalves 24/25 Stats So Far
Competition
Liga Portugal
Champions League
Supertaca
Even from such a small sample size, it is clear that Goncalves possesses an obvious level of quality that would benefit Emery’s side. Comfortable as either a winger or central midfielder, Goncalves’ versatility would mean that he could be utilised in more ways than one, something that will certainly appeal to Emery.
Entirely dependent on his fitness, Goncalves would be a brilliant addition for Villa, an attack-minded player nearing the prime years of his career to offer support to an already brilliant midfield, stocked with the likes of Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn.
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( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 09/03/2025 )
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