Aston Villa are thought to be showing an interest in Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez, according to 90min.
What’s the latest news on Villa and Gimenez?
Gimenez will turn 22 years of age later this month and has enjoyed a fine first season with Feyenoord after joining last summer. The Mexico international, now valued at a career-high €9m (£7.9m) by Transfermarkt, has scored 22 times and provided three assists in 41 appearances. His latest goal came on Wednesday evening against Ajax, which led to one media outlet describing him as a player “on fire”.
The left-footed forward appears to be catching the eye and has netted five times in the Europa League, with Feyenoord progressing to the quarter-finals.
90min reporters Lizzy Becherano and Graeme Bailey provided an update regarding Gimenez in the last 48 hours. They stated that Villa, along with Premier League rivals Brentford, Brighton, Leicester and Crystal Palace are all keeping an eye on the forward after his standout season in the Netherlands. The report adds that sides in France, Germany and Italy are also interested, name-checking Lille, Frankfurt and Napoli.
Why do Villa need someone like Gimenez?
Chief executive Christian Purslow is expecting a busy summer in the transfer market ahead of Unai Emery’s first full season in charge in the Midlands, with Ashley Preece stating that ‘a new No.9 to partner Ollie Watkins is at the top of Villa's shopping list’.
Watkins has been enjoying a purple patch in front of goal in recent months, scoring eight of his 11 Premier League goals in the last 10 games. However, despite his fine form, you can see why Emery is looking at bringing in another forward over the coming months. The Spaniard has just Watkins and teenager Jhon Duran as his only centre-forward options at this moment in time, while another youngster in Cameron Archer is out on loan with Middlesbrough.
Therefore, another experienced attacker alongside Watkins could be beneficial after selling Danny Ings in January, with Emery looking to take Villa to the next level. He has worked wonders so far and has taken the club to seventh in the Premier League table, picking up 32 points from his 16 top-flight games in charge.
Villa are still the joint-lowest scorers in the top half alongside Fulham with 39 goals in 29 games, so if the club are to push for European football next season, you’d expect they will need to increase that figure, something Gimenez could help with.