Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has personally given his green-light for the Villans to sign a Bayern Munich player this summer, according to a new report.
Villa suffer shock defeat to Wolves at Molineux
It had been building for a few weeks.
The wobble in form, the dropped points, the growing sense that Villa's title challenge had quietly slipped away. On Friday night at a rain-soaked Molineux, it all came crashing down in the most humiliating way possible.
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The Premier League's bottom club beat them 2-0.
Wolves, who had won just once in the league all season before this, were hungrier, sharper and more determined than their third-placed neighbours from the moment kick-off came around.
Villa dominated possession — 61 per cent of it to be exact — and had five shots on target across the 90 minutes. None of them went in. Wolves had two shots on target, and both of them did.
Joao Gomes was the man who broke the deadlock on 61 minutes, hammering the ball in off the underside of the crossbar after Jackson Tchatchoua's cross picked out Adam Armstrong and the midfielder arrived with conviction.
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It was a goal full of quality, and it was against the run of statistical play — but Wolves had worked harder for it.
Emery threw on substitutes in search of a response but Villa never truly threatened. Amadou Onana had the ball fall kindly to him seven minutes into stoppage time only for Jose Sa to claw it away and allow Yerson Mosquera to clear off the line.
And then, with the game entering its final breaths, Rodrigo Gomes picked up a loose ball on the counter and finished coolly to seal it.
Man United could leapfrog them into the top four before the weekend is out, with Chelsea visiting Villa Park on Wednesday.
The gap to the title race has grown, the pressure is building, and Emery knows that questions about his attacking options will not go away.
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Ollie Watkins was ineffective again on Friday, failing to have a single meaningful shot on target, with Emery still missing crucial midfielders like Youri Tielemans and captain John McGinn.
Which is exactly why, according to Football Insider, Villa's recruitment team have already turned their attention to a potential statement signing for the summer.
The target is a Chelsea striker currently out on loan at Bayern Munich — a player Emery tried to sign once before and has never stopped monitoring.
Unai Emery green-lights Aston Villa deal for Nicolas Jackson
Nicolas Jackson has made 22 appearances for the German giants this term in all competitions, contributing five goals, but he's all but certain to return to Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.
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The Blues have him tied down on a long-term contract — one that runs until 2033 — so a large fee may be needed, and the negotiations will not be straightforward.
However, Football Insider journalist Wayne Veysey reports that Emery is a 'big fan' of Jackson and has personally approved a Villa deal for him when the window reopens.
Talks between the clubs were held last year before the move collapsed, but with Villa reportedly expected to consider letting Watkins leave at the end of the season, a forward of Jackson's profile and age makes obvious sense.
Borussia Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck in action with Bayern Munich's Nicolas Jackson
The performance at Molineux made the need even more apparent. Villa need a striker they can count on, and Jackson can be a fantastic option on his day.
Jackson joined Bayern on loan from Chelsea at the start of September and has spent the season operating largely as a fringe option rather than a first-choice starter.
In the Bundesliga he has made 15 appearances — only five of them from the start — contributing three goals at a conversion rate of just over 21 per cent.
His Champions League record is arguably more encouraging: two goals and an assist in six outings, with a match rating of 7.31 across those matches.
The 24-year-old has shown his quality when given the minutes, but consistent game time has been hard to come by in Bavaria.
Bayern are not expected to trigger their option to buy, with Villa gifted another opportunity to sign the Senegalese.
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