An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their pursuit of a striker during the current January transfer window...

What's the talk?

According to reports in Spain, via Sport Witness, Unai Emery is pushing for the club's board to pursue a deal to sign Vedat Muriqi this month.

The report claims that RCD Mallorca are not eager to sanction an exit for their star striker but the player has a release clause of €38m (£34m) that the Villans could activate if they so choose.

It is stated that they have already had an offer of €20m (£18m) rejected by the Spanish side and that their next offer could go as high as €30m (£27m) after Emery's insistence on a swoop for the forward.

Imagine him & Emi Buendia

Emery and Villa could provide midfielder Emi Buendia with the prolific striker that he has been missing since he joined the club from Norwich in the summer of 2021 by securing a deal for Muriqi.

The Argentine playmaker created 15 chances and two 'big chances' in nine Premier League starts without recording an assist this season. This comes after he provided 49 key passes and eight 'big chances' for his teammates in the top-flight last term and was rewarded with just six assists.

These statistics suggest that the former Getafe winger is being let down by the current forwards at the club as they are not making the most of the opportunities that he is creating with impressive regularity.

Muriqi's form in La Liga for Mallorca this season indicates that he could be the man to make the most of Buendia's brilliance as he has plundered eight goals in 13 starts for the Spanish outfit.

The striker, who has scored 23 goals in 44 matches for Kosovo at international level, has found the back of the net eight times from 6.89 xG and this shows that he is making the most of the chances that he is being provided with and then some.

Villa need a centre-forward who can finish off the key passes that Buendia is creating for the team on a regular basis and Muriqi, who was once described as "utterly dominant" in the air by smarterscout on Twitter, could fit the bill.

His goalscoring exploits in another major European league in Spain suggest that he could be a fantastic signing for the Villans and NSWE must now back Emery by paying the money required to sign the marksman in the coming weeks in order to bolster the squad.