Aston Villa are set to rival Roma for the signature of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, according to talkSPORT.

The Midlanders see the Gabon international as an ideal replacement for Darren Bent, who has fallen down the pecking order with the Premier League club.

The front-man was impressive for Ligue 1 outfit Saint-Etienne last season, notching ten goals and proving to be a constant threat to position backlines across the division.

He has continued this form in the new campaign scoring seven times in the club’s 11 fixtures so far, including the winner against big spending Paris Saint-Germain in a 2-1 victory.

Roma have been monitoring the attacker’s situation for some time, but Villa have stepped up their pursuit recently, with manager Paul Lambert seeing the 23-year-old as the ideal man to help usher in a new era at the club.

Capped 26 times for his home nation, the striker began his career with Serie A giants AC Milan.

After struggling to force his way into the first-team, he was loaned out to Lille, Monaco and Dijon before making a permanent move to Saint-Etienne.

If they are to sign Aubameyang in January, its likely that Villa will look to sell Bent in order to free up space on their wage bill.

Liverpool are believed to be interested in the prolific forward, but may be unwilling to match the asking price set by their Premier League rivals, which is thought to be around £20m.