Aston Villa are preparing to move for a player who Unai Emery has earmarked as his top target…

What’s the latest?

As per transfer insider Dean Jones, the Midlands outfit will battle to sign Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal this January, with a desperation to ensure he is not tempted to join another Premier League club.

He said to GIVEMESPORT on the potential deal: 

“It’s being played up a lot and it seems like he is a player that Emery has clearly got on his radar for January. 

“Managers always want to bring in somebody that they recognise and a game-changer is, obviously, something they all look for too. It comes hand-in-hand with an appointment like this, that they’ll be looking for someone like Chukwueze.

“He won’t want him to go anywhere else either. If he’s actually going to make a transfer, they want to be at the front of the queue.”

Meanwhile, reports in Spain seem to suggest he will be available for £35m.

He is Emery’s dream

At just 23 years old, the world really is at the feet of the young Chukwueze.

Already boasting vast Champions League experience as well as having played in La Liga for some time, with each passing year it seems the Nigerian’s pedigree has increased.

That could make now the perfect time to invest in him, and with Emery having already overseen his development before, he could play a big factor in bringing him to Villa Park.

This season the tricky winger boasts 11 goal contributions, having already surpassed his seven-goal and three-assist campaign just last year.

This stands as further proof that he only seems to keep on improving, with his talents now recognised across Europe.

FBref outlines just how dominant he has become as a winger - he ranks in the top 1% for dribbles completed and touches in the attacking penalty area, having converted those into chances enough to see him also sit in the top 6% for total shots and 12% for assists.

He was earning praise for his performances far back as 2020 too, with Samuel Eto’o willing him to add more goals to his game as “he has the quality and ability”.

It seems that since then Chukwueze has become a more consistent goal threat, with his wicked left foot making him an upgrade on Leon Bailey on the right wing, who has just six goal contributions this season.

This deal would mark a dream reunion that would only serve to strengthen Villa’s playing squad.