Aston Villa could be in the market to add a goalscorer to their squad before the end of the January transfer window after agreeing the sale of Danny Ings to West Ham.

The current Villa centre-forward is reportedly set to complete a transfer to the London Stadium for a fee in the region of £15m and his exit will leave a gap in the roster.

Johan Lange and Unai Emery have completed the signing of Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire, but the 19-year-old is new to European football and scored just eight goals in 27 MLS appearances in 2022.

Ings is currently Villa's top scorer in the Premier League this season, with six goals in 18 appearances, and no other player in the squad has managed more than four goals.

This means that the club are set to lose a proven, experienced goalscorer, and as it stands thet have replaced him with an inexperienced young forward who is playing on the continent for the first time.

Therefore, bringing in another striker to compete with Ollie Watkins could be a shrewd move by Villa, as it would allow Duran more time to settle into life in Europe instead of throwing him in at the deep end at such a young age.

One player that the club are reportedly interested in signing this month is Genk attacker Paul Onuachu, who is said to be available for a fee in the region of €25m (£22m).

Emery could now land Villa's next Christian Benteke by signing the Pro League marksman, as the Villans have already enjoyed success from signing a number nine from that particular Belgian club.

They snapped up Benteke from Genk in the summer of 2012 and the Belgium international went on to plunder 49 goals and 12 assists in 101 matches in all competitions for Villa, providing a goal contribution more than once every other game.

Onuachu could now be the next centre-forward from the Belgian outfit to arrive at Villa Park and have a huge impact on the pitch, as he has been in terrific form in recent years.

The striker, who was once dubbed a "goal king" by John Fashanu, has scored 68 goals in the Pro League since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, including 33 in 38 appearances in the first season of that sequence.

Onuachu, who journalist Oliver Young-Myles once dubbed one of the most "prolific" strikers in Europe, has found the net 14 times in 13 starts in the Belgian top flight this season.

He is a proven, experienced goalscorer who, at 28, could come in and have an instant impact in the Premier League if he can adapt to English football.

The forward could follow in Benteke's footsteps and be a prolific scorer for Villa in the years to come, given his incredible goal return for Genk over the course of several seasons, and that is why Emery must swoop for him before the end of the month.