Aston Villa are eyeing up a move for Real Betis player Nabil Fekir in the last few weeks of the transfer window as Steven Gerrard looks to add another new face to his squad.

What’s the news?

That’s according to reports in Spain who claim that Villa are one of a few English sides interested in signing the Frenchman.

The club faces competition from fellow Premier League sides Manchester City and Newcastle United, however, and Gerrard will need to act fast to land the player.

Football Observatory values the player at around the £34m mark.

Their own Dembele

Gerrard has overcome a poor opening day defeat to Bournemouth with an excellent 2-1 win against Everton and he will hope this can kickstart their season into some life.

The Englishman has added quality in the mould of Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos to his side, but it's evident that he is still looking for another one or two additions.

Fekir could be an excellent signing if he utilises the potential that made him one of the most sought-after players in Europe back in 2018. He almost sealed a move to Liverpool from Lyon before the deal broke down.

A surprise transfer to Real Betis in 2019 may have been a downgrade for what his prodigious talent was worth, but he has excelled in Spain.

The 29-year-old has scored 18 La Liga goals, while FBref’s player comparison model shows that he is in a similar mould to Barcelona player Ousmane Dembele.

The two share a lot of traits, notably both struggling to utilise their incredible talents to live up to their youthful promise before eventually grabbing the headlines in La Liga last term.

Statistically, the two are also extremely similar, demonstrating a set of eye-catching attributes. Both averaged over five shot-creating actions per match last season in La Liga (Fekir 5.19 and Dembele 5.24) while both supplied the same number of goal contributions, with Fekir scoring six and registering eight assists as Dembele only scored once, however, he grabbed a wonderful 13 assists in the league.

Both players aimed to create chances from wide areas with their silky technical play, as the pair delivered 159 crosses between them over the course of the season (Fekir 63 and Dembele 96).

The two players have proven that they can inject some attacking menace into their side's attack and if Fekir makes the move to England, Gerrard could have his own mercurial talent in the French World Cup winner.

There is no doubt that the “delight to watch” - in the words of GOAL - would shine In the Premier League.