According to reports, Aston Villa are monitoring West Brom star Matheus Pereira ahead of a potential move.

What's the story?

Dean Smith's side got a taste of what the 24-year-old can do when he delivered a superb goal-scoring display in the Baggies 2-2 draw against Villa in the Premier League at the weekend.

The Athletic's Steve Madeley has now claimed that Albion's West Midlands rivals Villa are "understood to be among the Premier League sides monitoring the 24-year-old".

He ran Matt Targett ragged

Dubbed as a "genius" who "who has a technical ability that I have never even seen before" by former Nurnberg coach Nate Weiss, Pereira has emerged as one of West Brom's standout performers since his arrival at The Hawthorns.

His performance against Villa on Sunday really showed what he can bring to the table, with Jermaine Jenas left raving about him after the game. The pundit said: "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."

Pereira gave Targett "countless problems" according to the Birmingham Mail's Ashley Preece, and when you look at the stats, it's easy to see why that was the case.

The £11.7m-rated Brazilian finished the game with the highest Sofascore match rating of 8.1 and gave Targett an absolutely torrid evening. As well as scoring from the spot, the winger hit the woodwork, completed 100% of his dribbles, provided a team-high three key passes and sent in a game-high of four accurate crosses.

While Targett had some joy going forward, he struggled defensively, being dribbled past twice (the joint-most of any Villa player), losing seven of his 12 duels and conceding possession on 16 separate occasions (Sofascore).

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With eight goals and five assists in the Premier League alone, Pereira is putting up a real fight in order to keep the Baggies in the top flight. That kind of never-say-die attitude is something Smith will surely love as he looks to build a more competitive squad for next season.

He might be playing for the enemy, but Pereira is someone for whom Villa should push the boat out to try and sign.

Meanwhile, Villa could replace Ross Barkley by signing this "unique" Premier League star...