Aston Villa have agreed a deal to sign Zepiqueno Redmond on a free transfer from Feyenoord, according to Fabrizio Romano. https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1927439305611325852
The agreement has been sealed on a deal valid until June 2029 for the 18-year-old talent.
Redmond's breakout year:
Redmond made his Feyenoord debut in November of 2024 and since then has gained attention from top clubs all over Europe.
Zepiqueno Redmond made four appearances in the Eredivisie last season and also came on to represent the Dutch giants in the UEFAChampions League**** on two occasions. Both of his Champions League appearances came at the San Siro as he started against AC Milan in the group stage and came on as a substitute for the final 15 minutes against Inter Milan in the round of 16.
The Champions League is a competition that Aston Villa will look to return to as soon as they can after coming agonisingly close this season. The Villans will compete in the Europe League for the 2025/26 season.
He has made seven appearances for the Netherlands U19's, having scored twice.
Villa fans will also be pleased to know that Redmond has the ability to play anywhere across the front line, however the feeling is that Emery will prioritise him taking up the position of striker behind Ollie Watkins, if he stays.
The Dutch striker is both right and left-footed and has shown that he has great game sense.
Duran's replacement?
Redmond is regarded as physically impressive. His pace and power made him desired by so many clubs. Sound familiar?
Jhon Duran joined Aston Villa as a relatively unknown (to English football fans) talent from Chicago Fire on the 16th of January 2023.
Duran was and Redmond is labelled as an emerging talent by Villa and both have similar characteristics when it comes to their footballing skillset.
Duran, now of Al Nassr, joined Villa as a raw 19-year-old prospect and got his big money move to the Saudi Pro League in January of this year.
The Colombian international has formed a strong strike partnership with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr and has scored 12 goals in 18 appearances.
We could expect Redmond to play a similar role in what Duran played at Villa, which heavily involved making an impact from off the bench.
Redmond will have to take his chances though, when given to him, like Duran did, especially in the first half of the 2024/25 campaign.
The feeling from Villa fans is that they expect another striker to join the club in the summer in order to provide some competition to Watkins. Marcus Rashford was the man to do just that in the second half of the season, however Zepiquendo Redmond may just be the man for the job.
With Redmond having not played much football at the professional level there will be question marks over the impact that he will bring to the squad for next season.
There seems to be a buzz and a hype around this move so Villa fans all around should be excited to see what Zepiquendo Redmond has to offer.
Is it to early to say 'remember the name'? Yes.