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Aston Villa send bid for "world-class" ace, he'd be a better buy than Nkunku & Jackson - opinion

Unai Emery will be praying that his Aston Villa team puts their slow Premier League start behind them when Crystal Palace comes to town.

After all, much like the Villans this summer, Crystal Palace have had to grow accustomed to the prospect of their top assets being poached by sides higher up the top-flight food chain, with Eberechi Eze now donning Arsenal red and white.

Morgan Rogers graphic

Thankfully, the West Midlands outfit still has Morgan Rogers available for selection - despite new interest in his services coming from Thomas Frank's Tottenham Hotspur - with a hope he can kickstart his own individual season against the Eagles to steer Villa to a win.

Away from speculation about those who could exit Villa Park between now and September's looming deadline, there is also a long list of faces that might well relocate to the claret and blue half of Birmingham shortly.

Aston Villa lodge bid for new midfielder

However, it does now look increasingly unlikely that Nicolas Jackson will be one of those faces pulling on a Villa strip.

Indeed, reports from Germany indicate that Bayern Munich has agreed a loan deal for the hit-and-miss Chelsea forward to move to Bundesliga giants, over sealing a return to work under his ex-Villarreal boss in Emery.

Nicolas-Jackson-Aston-Villa

The early Premier League underperformers might well feel lady luck could be on their side more by trying to land Christopher Nkunku instead from the West London outfit, but there will also be competition from the German top-flight here as well, with Nkunku's former side RB Leipzig keen on a reunion.

Villa have also been gifted the opportunity to land Adrien Rabiot to enhance their midfield personnel, with French outlet L'Equipe revealing that Emery and Co. have sent an offer for the wantaway Marseille ace, who is on thin ice at the Ligue 1 side owing to a bust-up.

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Other sides, such as West Ham United, Galatasaray, and Inter Milan, are also among those to have lodged a proposal, with Villa hopeful they can get a statement deal over the line that is a far better late foray into the market than snapping up Nkunku or Jackson.

Why signing Rabiot is a better buy than Nkunku & Jackson

The argument in favour of both Nkunku and Jackson will be that they've at least been exposed to the intense pressures of the Premier League, with the Frenchman only ever plying his trade on faraway European shores, in contrast.

Yet, it's been well-documented at this point how tricky both the ex-Leipzig attacker and his Senegalese counterpart have found it to be consistent in the English top-flight, with Nkunku only finding the back of the net a sheepish six times in league action from limited starts.

Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku in action with Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi

Jackson does have more credit in the bank, arguably, with the 24-year-old boasting a promising 24 goals in the Premier League to date, but it's his staggering 43 big chances missed across his two top-flight seasons that will seriously worry Emery.

After all, if Rogers or Watkins were to both leave at the death, the Spaniard would certainly want instantly successful replacements, not unpolished projects who have struggled to regularly make an impact in the testing division.

Rabiot's club career

Club

PSG

Juventus

Marseille

Toulouse

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Whereas, despite Rabiot never setting foot onto English soil, his consistent excellence in both Ligue 1 and Serie A should stand him in good stead to be an instant success story at Villa Park, with an outrageous collection of 23 trophies coming his way in Paris and Turin when being an important cog in the middle of the park.

He has even been dubbed "world-class" by French great David Trezeguet, with his efforts for Marseille last season - before his time at the club publicly unravelled - also showing off a star still performing at the peak of his powers, away from both Nkunku and Jackson flopping at Chelsea.

Nine goals and four assists would fall into Rabiot's lap last campaign in Ligue 1 action, with his manager in Roberto De Zerbi, going as far as to herald the number 25 as an asset who "gives everything" for the cause.

With Boubacar Kamara now out of the Villa side owing to injury, adding in a composed midfielder such as Rabiot into the group could prove to be a very smart next buy.

adrien-rabiot-juventus

It certainly does feel as if it would be a better investment than gambling on Nkunku or Jackson to come good, that's for sure.

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