Aston Villa forward deal on the cards after Chelsea medical
Aston Villa have made checks on a striker ahead of a potential summer swoop with Unai Emery expected to sign competition for Ollie Watkins.
Following the sale of Jhon Duran in the winter, Aston Villa have been short of numbers in the striker department with Watkins the only known out-and-out number nine at the club.
While they were able to conclude a huge deal for Marcus Rashford, who has instantly hit it off at Aston Villa, the addition of an attacker will be a necessity in the summer.
With that in mind, Villa have already identified a potential target amid news of a Chelsea medical.
Samu Omorodion identified as summer target
With the need for a new striker at Aston Villa evident, FC Porto’s Samu Omorodion has been identified as a potential remedy for that.
That is according to the print edition of the Sunday Mirror (23 February, pg69) which states that Villa are making “scouting checks” on the Spaniard who actually had a medical ahead of a proposed move to Chelsea last summer.
Any deal for the striker fell through though, with Omorodion then joining Porto in a £12.7million deal.
Omorodion has been in blistering hot form in Portugal, scoring 13 goals in 18 league appearances while also registering three assists.
| 2024/25 season (All competitions) | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Samu Omorodion | 30 | 19 | 3 |
His pace and physical presence has seen him thrive and those two attributes are likely to be the main reasons behind the interest at Villa Park.
Villa need to sign a Duran replacement
While they appear to be coping for the time being, all it takes is an injury to Watkins for their lack of natural depth up top to be exposed.
While Watkins has impressed at large, Villa cannot afford to hang their hopes on one individual.
That will need to be addressed as a priority in the summer if Villa are to progress even further under Emery.
Of course, with Champions League qualification the goal this campaign, Villa will need to have adequate depth to cope with the intense amount of games a schedule can offer and without a second striker, it would leave an unreasonable amount of pressure on Watkins to deliver consistently.