A claim has emerged on Aston Villa and their chances of landing Nicolas Jackson during the upcoming January transfer window...
What's the talk?
Journalist Dean Jones has suggested that the Villans have an advantage over fellow Premier League side Newcastle United, as the Magpies are not prioritising a swoop for the forward.
Whereas, according to Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness, Unai Emery has urged Villa to snap up the winger from his former team Villarreal during the January window.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said: “I’m not convinced that this is one that Newcastle are actively pursuing right now.
“In that sense, you’d probably edge that if he was to go anywhere, it would be Villa and Emery.”
Leon Bailey upgrade
Aston Villa's new head coach could land an upgrade on the inconsistent Leon Bailey by securing a deal to sign Jackson in the next transfer window.
The winger endured a rough debut season with the Villans as he averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.75 across 18 appearances in the Premier League in 2021/22. He scored one goal and provided two assists from out wide as he struggled to consistently deliver good performances and end product in the final third.
This season, he has scored three times and provided two assists in 14 outings but his average rating has dropped to 6.73. This suggests that the general standard of his displays has dropped slightly, but he is offsetting that by contributing more at the top end of the pitch.
Jackson, meanwhile, has scored twice and provided two assists in 13 La Liga matches for Villarreal, averaging a SofaScore rating of 6.74.
This comes after the gem, who Josh Bunting once dubbed "exciting", plundered five goals and seven assists in 25 games in the third tier of Spanish football for his club's B team during the 2021/22 campaign.
His statistics do not suggest that he would be an immediate or significant upgrade on Bailey but he is a young player with the potential to improve.
The Senegalese forward, who has a £27m release clause, is four years younger than the Aston Villa winger and this means that he has far more time to develop and improve as an attacker.
Jackson almost matching the ex-Bundesliga forward's statistics at the top level, despite his age, shows that he has the potential to be an upgrade on him in the future, whether that is this season or in one of the upcoming campaigns.
Signing the 21-year-old would be an investment, as well as a signing that could improve the team in the short term if he hits the ground running, and Villa must now swoop ahead of Newcastle to land the magician's signature.