Having already secured the arrival of Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund, Aston Villa are now reportedly setting their sights on an in-demand forward worth over £21m.
Aston Villa transfer news
Desperate to make it back-to-back top four finishes in the Premier League and qualify for the Champions League as a result, those at Villa Park have acted as swift as ever to hand Unai Emery a fresh option going forward. Malen – an experienced forward after his Dortmund exploits – instantly hands the Spaniard an upgrade on the struggling Leon Bailey and a player capable of sharing the goalscoring responsibility with Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
When asked about that aforementioned experience in a question and answer session with the club’s official website, Malen said: “I’ve seen a lot of football. I’ve been in different leagues now. I’ve played Euros, I’ve played a lot of tournaments, so that creates a lot of character, so from there, I just have to show it.”
As one experienced option arrives, however, a younger option looks to have emerged onto the radar of those in the Midlands. According to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Aston Villa have now joined the race to sign Stefanos Tzimas from PAOK Salonika following his loan spell at FC Nurnberg at the end of the season.
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The 19-year-old striker has also attracted the interest of Liverpool an Brighton & Hove Albion to create quite the race for his signature which will reportedly be worth €25m (£21m) plus add-ons when the summer transfer window arrives.
A player who has thrived in Germany’s second division on loan this season, Tzimas could yet receive the ultimate chance to take the biggest step of his career so far courtesy of Aston Villa.
"Exciting" Tzimas is one to watch
Whilst he is still only a teenager, Tzimas has shown all the signs that point towards a future star whilst at Nurnberg and deserves to reap the rewards for such success. Alas, whether Aston Villa’s interest brings Duran’s future into question once more will be interesting to see. The clinical forward has already been linked with a move away to West Ham United this month and Tzimas could be seen as an ideal replacement when the summer arrives.
Scoring eight goals and assisting another two in 15 games in all competitions so far this season, the Greek striker certainly knows how to find the back of the net in a rise to stardom that Jacek Kulig saw coming in October. The Football Talent Scout dubbed the forward “one of the most interesting young strikers in Europe” and predicted an “exciting future ahead”.
A summer switch to Aston Villa would only see the forward accelerate towards that increasingly impressive potential too.