Aston Villa could sign a real upgrade on Anwar El Ghazi this summer by landing Bournemouth star Arnaut Danjuma.

What's the story?

Reports in recent days have suggested that Dean Smith's side are one of the clubs interested in signing the Cherries winger this summer, with the Midlands club already making an enquiry.

According to the print edition of The Sun, 18/07, p61, (via Football League World), the Championship club are demanding a fee in the region of £35m to part ways with the Netherlands international.

Huge upgrade on El Ghazi

Given that he predominantly plays on the left, but is also capable of playing out wide on the right and through the middle too, as per Transfermarkt, Danjuma would presumably be most in competition with El Ghazi for a place in the starting line-up.

When you compare their numbers last season, it's the Bournemouth man who comes out on top by far. Danjuma netted an impressive 17 times in 37 games for the Cherries across all competitions, while he also managed eight assists and was one of the key reasons behind his team making it into the play-offs - in his last 13 matches of the regular Championship season, he scored nine goals and set up another five.

El Ghazi, on the other hand, managed ten goals, and was very streaky in terms of his form, blowing hot and cold at varying stages of the season - not the kind of consistency that Smith will want heading into the new Premier League campaign.

As per WhoScored, the Cherries winger also averaged more key passes, dribbles and crosses per game than El Ghazi, while he was also fouled more times per match - a real indication of the kind of influence he had in trying to lead the Bournemouth attack.

Jonathan Woodgate, Danjuma's former boss at Bournemouth, said: "He’s an exceptional player, in a really good place at the minute, Arnie. He’s another one who I’ve always done a lot of work on him at his previous clubs, so I knew all about him coming into this role, I knew what type of player he was.

"I know last season that he didn’t really get a run in the Premier League and he maybe found it a bit difficult to get game time, but this season he’s been outstanding. I can only talk of what he’s done under my reign, but at the minute, he’s playing some exceptional football, and what else he is doing is working for the team."

The £35,000-a-week earner clearly showed with the Cherries last season that he's more than capable of posing a real threat going forward, and given that Villa have already snapped up another exciting Championship talent in Emi Buendia, they could strike gold again by signing Danjuma.

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