Aston Villa can sign their next Jhon Duran who has been compared to Raul - if Sunderland don’t get there first
Aston Villa are attempting to bolster their attacking options in January, but face competition from Sunderland and Wolves
Aston Villa are reported to be one of the leading contenders to sign in-demand Real Madrid hotshot Gonzalo García in the January transfer window.
The Lions are currently sixth in the Premier League after 11 matches and have shown signs of returning to their best after a slow start which saw them fail to win any of their opening five league matches.
Unai Emery’s side have been catapulted up the table by the immense form of Donyell Malen, Morgan Rogers, Matty Cash and perhaps most notably Emiliano Buendia, a player that at one time looked destined to depart for a cut-price fee. However, they’ve not yet seen the best of starman Ollie Watkins. The former Brentford man has just one goal in 16 appearances across all competitions, marking one of his quietest periods in front of goal since joining Villa five years ago.
His dip in form cost him a place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad and casts his hopes of being on the plane to North America in a slight bit of doubt amid growing competition from more in-form players such as Danny Welbeck, who is hopeful of being Harry Kane’s deputy in North America.
Aston Villa push to land Gonzalo García
Reports from Spanish outlet Fichajes claim that Aston Villa are pushing hard to secure the signing of Gonzalo García.
The forward is a Spain Under-21 international that has a record of two goals in five appearances at that level. He’s also represented the nation at Under-19 and Under-18 level.
García has spent the entirety of his professional career at Real Madrid. He joined the capital side’s well renowned youth academy in 2019 and broke into the B team three years later in 2022. Garcia has scored 30 goals in 70 appearances at Primera Federación - the third tier in Spain - drawing comparisons to club icon Raul, who coached him at youth level.
The 21-year-old has been around the Real Madrid first team since 2023, scoring five times in 22 appearances which have mostly come from the bench. All of his goals for Madrid have come in cup competitions, he scored four at the most recent FIFA Club World Cup to finish as joint top scorer and has found the net once in the Copa del Rey.
Fichajes understands García is a ‘priority target’ for a number of clubs including Aston Villa. The Spaniard is likely to receive more first team opportunities than he would at Real Madrid and could potentially follow a similar pattern to Jhon Duran, who progressed from being something of an unknown quantity to a real game-changer from the bench during his time at Villa Park.
Aston Villa face strong competition to sign Gonzalo García
Aston Villa are pushing hard to sign young striker Gonzalo García, who has the potential to be a strong rotation option to Ollie Watkins in the league and Europe.
The Villa Park side lack competition in attack and are often very reliant on the England international to produce the bulk of their goals, which is a huge risk to take particularly if the experienced striker was to sustain some sort of injury.
Villa are working hard to attract García to the West Midlands, but they are not alone in their pursuit of the Spaniard, who is believed to be valued at around 20 million euro (£17.6m), with newly-promoted high-flyers Sunderland and strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers also showing interest.
Sunderland sit fourth in the table and are already well on course to achieve survival after a fast start, leaving many wondering if they can sustain their good form. Wolves, meanwhile, have a new manager at the helm, who is tasked with trying to salvage the campaign after a challenging winless run.