The £51m Aston Villa transfer gamble that could add razor sharp edge to Unai Emery's attack

Having fallen agonisingly short of a second successive Champions League qualification, Aston Villa head into the summer transfer window with some shopping to do – and perhaps some significant restrictions on what they can spend.

The club are heading into the new season with concerns over the prospect that they may breach the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) during the 2024/25 season, with The Athletic describing their situation as being “on a knife edge”. That may mean that Villa are a selling club rather than a buying club, at least until the end of June.

That doesn’t mean that they aren’t looking at some new signings, however. From July, a hefty loss from the 2022/23 season will be off the books and all going well, they will have generated some revenue from player sales which can be spent in the new league year – and reports from Portugal suggest that they have one target firmly in mind.

Why Aston Villa have been linked with Geny Catamo

While Villa’s concerning PSR situation will be in the forefront of many fans’ minds, it doesn’t mean that they can’t spend once the current league year is over – but it will likely force them to be conservative in the transfer market.

That could impact their desire to add loanees Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio on a permanent basis, especially if other clubs make moves before the end of June, and that could explain why another winger, Sporting’s Geny Catamo, seems to be on their shortlist.

Several reports have now suggested that Villa are interested in the 24-year-old Mozambique international, who has a release clause which stands at €60m (£51m) – not that Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, whose report last week appears to have set the rumour mill rolling, believe the Villans will necessarily pay it in full to get a deal over the line.

O Jogo allege that officials from Aston Villa have already “contacted people close to the player” to gauge his interest and the likely contract terms that he might seek ahead of a potential bid later in the summer. It could be that they see him as an alternative addition to the front three if they fail to land Rashford or Asensio – or it may be that they want him anyway. Catamo is a growing force in both African and Portuguese football and could add a new dimension to Unai Emery’s attack.

Although often deployed as a wing-back by Sporting since establishing himself in the Sporting first-team under Ruben Amorim, Catamo would likely play as a winger in Emery’s system. Left footed and able to play on either flank, Catamo is a direct and sometimes dazzling dribbler who can force himself into open space in a way few of Villa’s current squad can.

Villa were middle of the pack in the Premier League last season in terms of how often their players carried the ball and how often they were successful in doing so, and Catamo would almost certainly send those stats skywards. Quick and with a blistering burst of acceleration and a quick turn, Catamo is lethal against high lines and provides plenty of direct passing options for his team-mates, while being more than handy when running with it from deeper areas.

He isn’t at his best one-on-one against defenders, and instead tends to look for one-twos and ways to get in behind to receive a pass, but there are few in Europe who are quite so impressive when doing so, and he would offer a way to exploit opposing high pressing sides that Villa arguably lack in wide areas as it stands.

Is Catamo good enough to make the difference at Villa Park?

Of course, pace and an aggressive playing style are only worthwhile – and certainly only worth anything close to £51m – if they’re backed up by a genuine threat with the final ball. In that regard, the jury may remain out on Catamo.

Although he persistently stretches play, his end product is still comparatively modest, even while playing for what is currently the best team in a relatively modest league. Over the past two seasons, he has returned 10 league goals from 7.5xG and five assists – not bad numbers, but not necessarily good enough to suggest that he would be instantly impactful in the Premier League.

He is currently responsible (directly or indirectly) for 3.63 shooting chances every 90 minutes, an average mark for a winger in second-tier European leagues – but those numbers are all potentially pushed down by the wing-back role he often plays for Sporting. While he’s as aggressive and attacking a wing-back as could be envisioned, it’s still a role which grants him less access to the final third than he gets as a winger.

Perhaps a more advanced role would lead to more substantive returns, and his impressive chance conversion rate hints that that may well be the case – as does his record of 10 goals in 33 international appearances for Mozambique, which includes goals against Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations and against Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria in qualifying matches. He is likely the best player to emerge from the former Portuguese colony since the legendary Eusébio.

Should Villa decide to proceed with a bid, it may be complicated slightly by the fact that 75% of his rights are still owned by former club Amora, but that doesn’t appear likely to be an insurmountable obstacle – and indeed, a new report from Caught Offside cites unspecified sources in claiming that Arsenal, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham and several European sides are monitoring Catamo’s progress.

A bidding war could perhaps erupt, which would not be an ideal situation for a side who may need to be cautious with their spending moving forward – but Catamo’s evident talent, capacity to attack defences from a fresh angle and sheer speed may make him precisely the sort of player who can offer Villa’s attack something different, and perhaps something very exciting. Time will tell if they make a move.