Aston Villa face competition to sign Werder Bremen forward Milot Rashica this summer, per Gazeta Blic via The Daily Mirror.
On the chalkboard
Rashica could well be Jack Grealish’s replacement at Villa Park.
The latter, of course, has been linked with a £70m switch to Manchester United and there is every chance that, if they stay in the Premier League, Villa could use that money to secure the signature of the Bremen ace.
Per Gazeta Blic, he would cost €38m (£35.2m) this summer, with Liverpool also interested, though Villa’s move is contingent on them remaining in the top-flight, otherwise they could well miss out.
And the stats show that Rashica could well step into Grealish’s shoes.
Per WhoScored, the Kosovo international has scored seven Bundesliga goals this season, registered four assists, and averages three shots, 1.6 key passes, and 2.2 dribbles per game, while he is fouled 1.9 times.
Compare that to Villa’s in-demand captain.
Grealish has scored seven Premier League goals, registered six assists, and averages 2.1 shots per game, 2.7 key passes, and 2.2 dribbles, while he is fouled 4.9 times, again per WhoScored.
Rashica is also younger than Grealish at 23, and he appears a man for big occasions; he has scored against both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich this season. The latter, unfortunately, was Bremen’s only goal in a 6-1 drubbing.
Fill the void
If Grealish does go, and one has to think that United’s financial muscle may come into play whether Villa are relegated or not, he will need replacing quickly.
A move for Rashica, then, would make all the sense in the world.
They dribble the same amount per game, have a similar eye for goal, and while the Kosovo native would need to work on threading the eye of the needle outside the box, he could well become a similar influence to the Villa skipper.
Did he really play for us?! No Villa fan has managed to name all of these obscure Villans....
Any deal, of course, is complicated by the fact that Dean Smith’s side are staring down the barrel of the gun when it comes to relegation – they are 19th, two points off safety.
But if they stay up, they should make a swoop for Rashica a priority.
Receiving £70m for their key star and reinvesting half of it in his replacement seems like remarkably good business, leaving change left over for other signings in other areas.
It would make sense all round.
Meanwhile, this should happen to Dean Smith if Villa are relegated!