Aston Villa manager Unai EmeryAston Villa manager Unai Emery
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery | Getty Images
Aston Villa have a big summer ahead of them on the transfer front
Aston Villa have the chance to bring in some new signings this summer. They also have the opportunity to let some players head out the exit door. Unai Emery’s side are gearing up for another year in the Premier League and have an important couple of months ahead of them.
The Midlands outfit missed out on the Champions League this past season. They were beaten away at Old Trafford by Manchester United on the final day. Goalkeeper Emi Martinez was sent off in their game against the Red Devils.
Aston Villa eye Porto striker Samu Aghehowa
Aston Villa are ‘closely following’ Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, according to CaughtOffside. Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea have also been credited with an interest. The 21-year-old appears to be a man in-demand at the moment.
Aghehowa, 21, has bags of potential and his current club are likely to face a battle to keep hold of him down the line. He made the switch to Portugal last year and he has since been prolific in front of goals. The Spain international, who has two caps under his belt so far in his career, scored 25 goals in all competitions in the last campaign, 19 of which came in the league.
He was on the books at Granada as a teenager and was a key player for their B team before featuring once for their first-team. Atletico Madrid snapped him up in 2023 as one for the future but he only spent a single year with the La Liga giants. They loaned him out to Alaves to get some experience under his belt and he fired eight goals in 35 outings before Porto came calling.
Will Aston Villa sign Porto striker Samu Aghehowa?
Aston Villa could see Aghehowa as someone to boost their attacking department. If he joined, he would give them more competition and depth up top and something different to call upon. He would also battle it out with Ollie Watkins for a place in the starting XI.
It remains to be seen at this stage whether they will lodge an official offer though. They will be considering various different targets right now. In addition, they may also need to see off competition from other teams mentioned as suitors like Arsenal and Chelsea.
Speaking after their defeat against United last month, Emery said: “Today, we lost the opportunity, but we didn’t deserve more. We started the match today, poor in our performances, collectively and individually. It was the key moment for the sending off of Emiliano Martínez and, of course, after it, we needed to be resilient, we needed to defend, we needed to defend low block, goalkeeper, and believe in our moment to get some attacking actions, or some corners.
“We scored one goal, and normally this goal, if the referee was under his control, this moment, to wait before to whistle this action, I think it was a goal, after VAR. We watched on the TV. But we are making mistakes, the players, they are making mistakes and the referees, sometimes they are making mistakes. We have to accept it. We lost and we didn’t deserve more.”
Continue Reading