Aston Villa transfer news as scouts sent on transfer mission to watch Kevin Danso
Aston Villa sent scouts to watch defender Kevin Danso during RC Lens’ crucial win over Marseille on Saturday, according to 90Min.
The exciting French outfit have been arguably the surprise package of the Ligue 1 season, currently sitting second in the table, leapfrogging Marseille with their 2-1 victory at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
And according to 90Min [9 May], a number of Premier League clubs sent scouts to run the rule over three of their most prominent stars in Danso, Lois Openda and Seko Fofana during the game.
It’s been revealed by the report that Aston Villa had scouts present to watch Danso in particular, who’s enjoyed a sensational break-out campaign at the French outfit.
“Centre-back Danso, who spent a short time on loan at Southampton during the 2019/20 season, attracted particular interest from Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Wolves scouts during the game, with the Austrian bagging an assist to boot”, 90Min reveals.
It looks set to be a busy and exciting summer at Villa Park ahead of Unai Emery’s first season in charge, with NSWE ready to back the manager with a “huge” spending spree [Football Insider].
Emery has superbly transformed things on the pitch at Villa Park since arriving back in November, taking the club to eighth in the Premier League after 13 wins from 22 top-flight games – a significant upturn from when they sat in the bottom three before his appointment.
There has been plenty of speculation this month with Villa planning an ambitious double swoop for attackers Dusan Vlahovic and Marco Asensio.
However, defensive reinforcements also appear to be on the agenda for Emery this summer, with rumours now linking the club with a move for Danso.
The powerful former Southampton defender, who featured across 10 Premier League appearances for the Saints, has undergone a stunning upward trajectory in Ligue 1, featuring in 34 games, registering one goal and two assists.
And with Villa scouts present to watch his performance against Marseille at the weekend, they will have been mightily impressed by what they saw, and his stats from that game prove just how much he stood out amongst everyone else on the pitch.
As per SofaScore, Danso was the best-rated defender from either side, making five clearances, two tackles and blocking two shots. He even contributed going forward by registering a key pass, ending with a 78% pass completion rate.
So far this campaign, the 24-year-old has contributed to 14 Lens clean sheets, won an impressive 71% of his aerial duels, won 60% of his ground duels and 64% of his total duels [SofaScore] highlighting how strong and dominant he’s been in his defensive duels.
But, not only that will have Emery admiring from afar, but his excellent progressive qualities.
As per FBRef, Danso ranks amongst the best of his centre-back peers within Europe’s top five leagues for certain metrics, ranking in the 88th percentile for passes completed per 90, 90th percentile for successful take-ons, and 79th percentile for progressive passes – numbers which rank infinitely higher than both of Emery’s trusted defensive lieutenants Tyrone Mings or Ezri Konsa.
Aston Villa are a possession-heavy side under Emery, for which the Spaniard demands of his centre-backs to be brave in playing out from the back and progressing the ball through the thirds. Mings and Konsa have proven able commodities when fulfilling those tactical demands but Danso could certainly take the Villans to another level given his stunning metrics.
Such numbers simply reveal why Danso is highly-regarded among Europe’s elite sides, and if Aston Villa hold any ambitions to become one of those teams, then they’d certainly need to move fast ahead of their rivals to sign such a highly-coveted and now Premier League-ready defender.
In other Aston Villa news, a Villa sensation could miss up to nine months of action and faces the threat of a potential ACL tear as well.