Aston Villa Could Sign Dream Watkins Partner in £13m Duran Upgrade
Aston Villa maintained their improbable Premier League title challenge on Saturday afternoon with a close victory over relegation-threatened Burnley. But as evidenced by four of the final nine points, head coach Unai Emery still has a lot of work ahead of him.
The Villans appear to be limping into 2024, but Emery will be relieved to learn that the January transfer window, which gives him the opportunity to bolster his team before the second half of the season, is less than a day away.
According to reports, the Spanish coach is already keeping an eye on a few players and is eager to add one to the team to strengthen his offensive line.
Aston Villa transfer news – Cyril Ngonge
A report from Tuttomercatoweb last week stated that Aston Villa has been monitoring Cyril Ngonge, the front man for Hellas Verona, in advance of the winter window. The report claims that Villa has scouted the 23-year-old multiple times this season and that the Italian club is presently asking £13 million for the player.
Despite joining the team midway through the season, Ngonge moved to Verona in January of last year and finished as the leading goal scorer with five goals, including two in the relegation playoff match against Spezia in June to secure I Gialloblu’s spot in Serie A for another year.
Having played as both a second striker and a winger, the Belgian is the Italian outfit’s top scorer once more this term, bagging five goals to complement his two assists as Marco Baroni’s side sit merely one place above the relegation zone on goal difference.
In fact, Ngonge has scored 33.3% of Verona’s total league goals this campaign but the Serie A strugglers could lose him in January, with Villa interested in securing his services.
Cyril Ngonge’s stats this season
Injuries and suspensions aside, Emery’s starting lineup has been quite consistent this season. However, the one area that has been tweaked quite a few times by the manager has been the position beside centre-forward Ollie Watkins.
Emery has occasionally used a two-man front line, with Villa’s lucky charm partnered with Moussa Diaby, Jhon Duran, or Leon Bailey. At other occasions, Nicolo Zaniolo or Youri Tielemans have occupied the number ’10’ spot in the hole behind the striker.
Bailey, who has nine goals and eight assists across all competitions, is without a doubt Watkins’ most effective substitute attacker. He has scored six goals and provided two assists on the flank, although his greatest position has been off the right.
Diaby has been Emery’s third-most prolific forward this term, with five goals and four assists but the Frenchman has managed to find the net only twice in his last 13 appearances. Meanwhile, rotation options Tielemans and Zaniolo have three goals between them in a combined total of 44 matches.
As Bailey has to regularly fill the void alongside Watkins, as a result of Diaby’s inconsistency, Matty Cash has often been used as a right-winger but has looked uncomfortable doing so. The Poland international last played in that position during Villa’s late 2-1 win over Brentford two weeks ago but was whipped off after 65 minutes, having been handed a 5/10 match rating by the Birmingham World for his display.
Bailey should keep playing off the right, where he is most effective, and Ngonge could take Watkins’ spot next to him. The only other option is to give Duran more playing time, but as the data below shows, Ngonge has outperformed the 20-year-old Colombian this season in a number of important offensive stats.
Ngonge, who has helped Villa score 40% of their goals in the Premier League this year, may be exactly what Watkins needs to play alongside him. At this price, Emery won’t want to pass up the opportunity to sign Ngonge in January.
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