It has been a bit of an underwhelming season in front of goal for Aston Villa. Despite the firepower at Unai Emery’s disposal, there is certainly a case to be made that they have left a little ot be desired going forward.
They have managed just 58 Premier League goals overall, a tally bettered by eight clubs in the top-flight.
The West Midlands outfit have also massively underperformed on expected goals. According to Understat, the Villans' numbers for the metric lie at 66.05 xG, an underachievement of over eight goals. That is worse than all but five teams.
Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins celebrates scoring their first goal with Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers
With that in mind, it might not be a surprise to learn that Villa are targeting a new attacker this summer.
Aston Villa’s new attacking target
It does seem as though the Villans are looking to add attacking firepower to their squad this summer. One man who could move to the West Midlands is former Manchester City man Ferran Torres, now plying his trade at Barcelona.
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According to a report from journalist Graeme Bailey, they ‘like’ the versatile Spanish forward, and could look to add him to their squad this summer. Crucially, not only is he is a player the club likes, but ‘so does Unai Emery’, as per the report.
The stars may well have aligned for Villa to bring Torres to the club, although they will face competition from a Premier League rival. Arsenal are also interested, and Mikel Arteta has worked with the forward when he was a coach in East Manchester.
FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates scoring their second goal
A price is yet to be confirmed, but he cost Barca just short of £55m four years ago, so it might be a similar fee.
How Ferran Torres compares to Rashford
It has been a season to remember for Barcelona. They recently secured the La Liga title, beating rivals Real Madrid to the prize. Whilst Torres has by no means been the star of the show, he has played a huge role in their success under Hansi Flick.
FC Barcelona's Ferran Torres in action
The Spaniard has played 45 games in all competitions this season. In that time, the 25-year-old has found the back of the net 19 times and created a further seven goals. Surprisingly, he has played just 1,921 minutes, but that has left him with a goal involvement every 73 minutes on average.
Of Torres’ 19 goals across all competitions this term, he managed six of them in just five games in Barca’s victorious Copa Del Rey campaign. That included a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of former club Valencia at the Estadio Mestalla.
One player who Torres could replace in a Villa shirt this season is Marcus Rashford. The Manchester United star has been on loan at Villa Park for the second half of the campaign, where he has contributed to ten goals in just 17 games.
marcus-rashford-aston-villa
Despite the fact that there is a £40m buy option in his contract with the West Midlands outfit, it is not clear if Rashford will stay at the club.
Simon Stone of BBC Sport recently reported that the attacker thinks United ‘would be prepared to sell him for £40m to anyone this summer’, suggesting he may not stay at Villa Park.
When comparing the pair statistically on FBref, it seems like Torres would certainly be a good alternative to Rashford if he were to replace the Wythenshawe-born sensation. For example, he averages 0.47 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes compared to Rashford’s 0.53 shot-creating actions each game.
Torres and Rashford key stats compared
Stat (per 90)
Goals and assists
Key passes
Goal-creating actions
Take-ons completed
Ball recoveries
Stats from FBref
There is no doubt it would be a shame for Villa if they were to lose Rashford this summer. However, should they sign the "special" talent that is Torres, as Antonio Mango called him, he would certainly be an apt replacement.
Emery loves him and the club wants to sign him, so it seems like the dream addition and someone who can fill the big boots of Rashford next season.
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He could finally replace Jhon Duran.