As Aston Villa prepare for a busy summer in the transfer market, how they would love to unearth a forward as prolific as Christian Benteke.
The Belgian striker scored 49 goals in just 101 appearances for the Villans, thereby averaging a goal every 172 minutes, despite the fact they were struggling throughout his time at the club.
christian-benteke-aston-villa
Having arrived from Genk for just £7m in 2012, Benteke was sold to Liverpool for £32.5m three years later, quite the return on investment.
A decade on from his departure, could Villa be about to make a Benteke-esque striker move in this transfer window?
Aston Villa targeting new striker
According to a report by Football Transfers, Monchi has made Brighton & Hove Albion forward João Pedro a 'high-priority' target this summer, adding that the Brazilian is valued at around £58m by the Seagulls.
Pedro has not been seen since being sent off at Brentford on 19 April, first serving the customary three-match suspension.
However, despite then being available for Brighton's final two fixtures of the campaign, Fabian Hürzeler chose not to select him.
This is because, as outlined by Pedro was involved in a 'training ground altercation' with teammate Jan Paul van Hecke, merely fueling speculation around his future.
Southampton's Flynn Downes in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Joao Pedro
Sam Dean of the Telegraph has previously documented that Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are all 'interested' to Pedro this summer, but could Aston Villa position themselves at the front of the queue by acting swiftly?
Why Pedro would be a better signing than Rashford
Now that his loan spell has come to an end, there was always going to be much speculation about Marcus Rashford's future.
In 17 appearances for Villa, he looked like a different player, enjoying a 'career rehabilitation' in the Midlands as he scored four goals and registered six assists, on target against Brighton and Manchester City in the Premier League, also bagging a brace at Preston North End in the FA Cup.
Nevertheless, Jamie Jackson of the Guardian reports that, even though he is contracted to the club until 2028, Rashford has no future at Manchester United, who value him at £40m, with reports in Spain documenting Barcelona's long-standing interest.
marcus-rashford-aston-villa-premier-league
However, rather than pushing to make Rashford's deal permanent, would Villa be better served signing Pedro?
Well, let's attempt to find out.
Pedro vs Rashford: 2024/25 PL season
Stat (per 90 mins)
Goals
Assists
Key passes
Progressive passes
Shot-creating actions
Successful take-ons
Progressive carries
Stats via FBref.
As the table outlines, Rashford and Pedro's statistics this season are remarkably similar.
In around 300 more minutes across all competitions, the Englishman scored one more goal, registered two more assists and accumulated more shot-creating actions per 90.
Nevertheless, Pedro came out on top for carrying metrics across passing and dribbling, suggesting he's even more of a livewire than Pedro in forward areas.
Joao-Pedro-Brighton
Presenter Sam Ucko labels the Brazilian a 'special player", while Liam Tharme of the Athletic praises his 'technical prowess', which enables him to drop deep and be involved in the build-up play.
So, the smarter business decision would be to spend big on the younger Pedro, rather than splurging on a 27-year-old whose best days could be behind them.
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Aston Villa are looking to do their transfer business early