Aston Villa manager Dean Smith could land a perfect alternative to Emi Buendia in West Brom's Matheus Pereira this summer.

What's the story?

Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that the Villans are monitoring the 25-year-old ahead of the transfer window opening.

According to TEAMtalk, the Baggies are quoting a fee of around £15m to part ways with Pereira this summer, and that Villa have actually already made an enquiry for him.

With news that Villa are facing an intense transfer battle with Arsenal in the race to sign Buendia, Pereira could well be the dream alternative.

Forget Buendia

Hailed as a "genius" who "who has a technical ability that I have never seen before" by former Nurnberg coach Nate Weiss, Pereira enjoyed a superb campaign in the Premier League, netting 11 goals and provided a further six assists.

After a particularly impressive goal-scoring performance against Villa themselves back in April, Match of the Day pundit Jermain Jenas said of the £17m-rated star: "He’s just silky. When he’s on it, he’s just got that lovely left-foot, (tucked) his penalty away, the delivery into the box for set-pieces was brilliant, and he wanted to showcase his skills."

If Buendia makes the decision to move to Arsenal, or Villa find themselves priced out of a potential deal for the Argentine, then Pereira's Premier League experience and far lower cost makes him the perfect alternative for Smith.

[snack-amp-story url="https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/aston-villa-dean-smith-transfer-window-premier-league-villa-park-emi-buendia-gregg-evans-gossip-rumours-update-news" title="Read the latest Aston Villa transfer rumours and news!"]

It's a move that sporting director Johan Lange must sanction.

Meanwhile, Villa boss Dean Smith is eyeing a move for this Premier League striker...