Summary Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is already planning to sign a new striker to support Ollie Watkins. Villa made several signings in the summer transfer window but had a rough start to the season. Emery aims to secure a place in the Champions League with Aston Villa and win at least one trophy.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is already working on signing a new striker to rival Ollie Watkins, according to reports.
Aston Villa’s summer signings…
Those in the Midlands were fairly busy during the summer transfer window ahead of Emery's first full season in charge. A number of signings were made by the club, however, things didn't get off to the best of starts following a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United.
However, since then, Villa have picked up two Premier League wins and convincingly qualified for the Europa Conference League group stage following an 8-0 aggregate victory over Hibernian.
Bayer Leverkusen
€55m
Villarreal
€33m
Galatasaray
Loan fee €5m
Leicester City
Free transfer
Barcelona
Loan
Emery has big ambitions at Villa Park and is targeting a place in the Champions League in the future, with the aim for the current campaign at least another seventh-place finish.
"We need to keep doing the same and then improve things with the ball. I think we can do it. We achieved seventh position in the Premier League. We are going to fight for that as a minimum.
"The present and the future for me is to try to play Champions League with Aston Villa.
"That is my dream. And then try to have options for a trophy is another challenge. My challenge here is to win a minimum of one trophy."
According to Football Insider reporter Pete O’Rourke, Emery and his recruitment staff are already laying the groundwork to sign a marquee striker in the New Year.
It is believed that the Spaniard wants “more firepower” at Villa Park and after selling Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene and Keinan Davis, the funds are thought to be available from owners NSWE for a new addition.
The report adds that Watkins ‘must shoulder the bulk of the attacking responsibility’ until January, with Jhon Duran another option for Emery at this moment in time.
How good is Ollie Watkins?
Watkins has been the main man in attack for Villa since arriving from Brentford back in 2020, making 122 appearances in all competitions, scoring 46 times and registering 15 assists.
The 27-year-old has now been capped by England on seven occasions and appears to be at the top of his game with a career-high Transfermarkt valuation.
He enjoyed his best season in front of goal at Villa Park last season, scoring 15 times in the top-flight but is yet to get off the mark in 2023/24. Duran scored against Everton in a 4-0 win last month, so looking to bring in a third attacker appears to be a wise move.
It'll be interesting to see who that may be, but by the looks of things, a move is already being worked on ahead of the winter window, where hopefully, Villa will be in a strong position to push for another European finish, which could then lead to another productive summer window.