The £17.5m starlet that could revitalise Aston Villa’s attack – if Sunderland or Wolves don’t get there first

Of all the teams in the top half of the Premier League table right now, none have scored fewer goals than Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins is stuck in a rut and has been dropped by England, and none of his supporting cast have stepped up. Villa may well be forced to make some moves in January if they are to maintain a challenge for the European places.

Which may well explain a fascinating new transfer story coming from Spain – which suggests that Villa are one of three English teams, along with high-flying Sunderland and Wolves, who are considering an offer for Real Madrid youngster Gonzalo García, a star of the Club World Cup who has found it tricky to get minutes in the Spanish capital since his golden summer. But could he really be the answer to Villa’s attacking woes? And will such a deal really happen in January?

Why Aston Villa (and others) could be interested in Real’s Gonzalo García

García, who joined Real’s academy set-up at the relatively late age of 15, had made six appearances for his club before this summer’s Club World Cup, but had never started a match and had scored just once, a late winner against Leganés in the Copa del Rey. It was clear that he was appreciated at the Bernabeu, but the hype he was receiving was relatively limited.

That changed in the United States this June. Playing in place of Kylian Mbappé, who was suffering with acute gastroenteritis, García started all six of Real’s matches, scoring four goals, providing another, and being voted into the team of the tournament. He seemed to have arrived all of a sudden.

It was a false dawn, in many ways, with Mbappé keeping him from playing time now that the season proper has started – the 21-year-old has only started one match for Real since the summer and hasn’t scored in 112 minutes – but he still got the chance to show the world what he can do, and it’s not surprising that Premier League teams might want to take advantage of the difficulty of getting starts at one of the world’s biggest sides.

García is a natural centre-forward (although he can play on the wide if required) whose strengths are his instinctive finishing, his knack for finding space between defenders and slipping markers and his link-up playing – despite not cutting an especially physically imposing figure he makes a fine target man and his work in the channels created not only a goal against Pachuca but several fine chances during the Club World Cup.

He's good in the air, composed in front of goal and confident with his first touch, and the impression given by his performances in the summer was of a striker who would be first choice at most teams even if Real was a step too far.

He’s also the kind of player who works around his limitations rather than letting them be much of a factor. For instance, he isn’t a particularly strong dribbler and doesn’t have electric pace but has built a playing style which emphasises his movement and passing instead, and he rarely takes a man on or puts himself in positions in which he is forced to. He appears to have a very good grasp of how to play to his own strengths and excellent awareness of how play is developing around him. Comparisons have been made to Real great Raúl – perhaps slightly overblown, but one can see the similarities.

The sample size is so small that it’s hard to accurately gauge how far he can go, but there are clear flashes of talent and it takes a plainly above-average player to be in the Real squad, even if he hasn’t been able to establish him as a starter – for a team with slightly more modest means, he could easily be a superb signing. But how likely is it that such a deal takes place?

Will Villa sign García – or could Sunderland or Wolves get there first?

The story concerning Premier League interest in García seems to originate from Spanish outlet Fichajes, with their version of events now widely repeated in the British media both with and without attribution.

A story stemming from Fichajes doesn’t – in our opinion – offer it a very firm base of credibility. They are a website who print a great number of stories of varying accuracy and plenty of their suggestions for future transfers fail to come to fruition or to be backed up by other, more august, media outlets.

Still, the source being somewhat questionable doesn’t guarantee that the rumour is wide of the mark, and the details of the piece – that Real Madrid would consider offers of around €20m (£17.5m) but that there is internal debate as to whether to keep him around the Bernabeu – all sounds reasonable enough, even if an initial loan deal might make more sense for some of the teams mentioned.

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A side like Wolves, also mentioned as being among García’s suitors, may be averse to betting the house on any player given their league position and the likelihood of relegation, Sunderland have already got at least three frontline options at centre-forward, and while Villa may well want him to provide competition for Watkins, he remains largely unknown – and Villa remain relatively light on cash after their brush with PSR problems this summer. Trying before they buy be the way they want to go with García if the story does have any truth to it.

Villa, in any case, seem the most likely of the teams said to be keen to make a January bid. Sunderland don’t have an urgent or obvious need for a forward even if they are stronger going forward than they are at the back, and while Wolves are in a rough position they still have Jørgen Strand Larsen. Villa, however, need some goals.

From Real’s perspective, they are set to loan their other talented young striker - Endrick - to Lyon in January and that might encourage them to keep García around should Mbappé sustain an injury. It would certainly be brave of them to let both of their back-ups leave at the same time.

Ultimately, this is a story which needs corroboration from different sources before it should be trusted implicitly, but García seems to match Villa’s needs and if the terms were favourable (as reported) then they could be staring at the chance to sign a prodigiously talented striker who has proven that he can score against teams like Juventus and Borussia Dortmund – even if he hasn’t yet had the chance to prove that he can do it week after week. It still seems like a chance worth taking if the opportunity really is there.