Aston Villa can sign their next Morgan Rogers with genius £11m wonderkid transfer

Aston Villa may not be in a position to spend excessive amounts in the coming January transfer window, but they are still expected to be active – with attacking reinforcements likely to be the priority.

Given that only six teams have produced a lower total of expected goals than Villa this season, that makes sense. Ollie Watkins is struggling, summer signing Evann Guessand has yet to convincingly find his feet and the club has become rather too reliant on Morgan Rogers in the final third right now. That could, perhaps, change with one budget-friendly signing – and Unai Emery seems to have such a player in his sights.

The teenage forward who could be Aston Villa’s next Morgan Rogers

On Tuesday, The Athletic reported that Aston Villa were “exploring a deal” for 19-year-old Grêmio winger Alysson – with scouts having watched him in action in Brazil prior ahead of a potential bid.

Alysson – also referred to as Alysson Edward – has a hint of Rogers about him. Capable of playing as a number ten as well as out wide, he has a similar combination of strength, acceleration and impressive ball control.

That combination of attributes still needs a certain amount of refinement even after the teenager established himself as a regular starter in Porto Alegre over the course of the 2025 season. Still somewhat inconsistent, Alysson can cut a frustrated figure when things aren’t going his way and has as yet only scored one league goal for his club. He has raw potential, but isn’t quite the finished product.

Still, he fits the bill for Aston Villa in a number of ways. He’s young, which suits a club keen to build a more youthful squad. He can play in a number of positions, which helps when depth is a potential issue going forward. He’s also not likely to break the bank – an important point in a year in which Villa barely avoided sanctions for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

Those rules remain in force for the rest of the 2025/26 season even after clubs voted to replace them next summer, and Villa are not believed to have a significant transfer kitty to play with this January. Signing cheaper, younger talent is their most likely path forward next month.

And while Alysson may not be expected to have an outsized impact the moment he arrives (if indeed Villa do complete a deal), he’s already got the combination of ball-carrying skill, technique, off-ball movement and work ethic in the high press to be effective as a rotational option. Alysson would be signed with an eye to the possibility that he equals Rogers in a few years’ time, but also with the hope that he can help the first team right away.

Will Aston Villa get a deal for Alysson done this January

While The Athletic’s reporting doesn’t suggest that Aston Villa have yet made a formal offer for Alysson or speculate on the transfer fee that might be involved – it merely claims that the club have “registered strong interest” - the Brazilian media have been happy to offer some suggestions.

Bolavip reported (before The Athletic published their story) that Grêmio had already received an offer “exceeding €12m” – around £10.5m – although details of how the offer was structured were not provided. A decision on whether to accept or not would be made in the coming days.

The Brazilian club do, of course, have several weeks in which to make a decision but Villa may be keen to get a deal over the line early in January if possible as there is every chance that Guessand will be unavailable over the first weeks of the new year if the Ivory Coast perform well at the Africa Cup of Nations.

With strong sources in both England and Brazil running with the story, it certainly seems probable that Villa’s interest in Alysson is genuine and that discussions are underway in some shape or form – but it’s not yet certain, by any means, that an acceptable compromise will be found on the transfer fee.

Bolivar’s reporting suggests that this is a deal which Villa can afford, and watching Alysson play suggests that it could be a deal which provides Unai Emery with a player who could be an impact sub, at the very least, from the word go – and with plenty of room to grow, to develop and perhaps to ease off on his frustrations when things aren’t quite working out. This could easily prove to be a very shrewd signing in the not-so-distant future.

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