Aston Villa are still in dire need of a striker to challenge Ollie Watkins and they should look at someone who once left Erling Haaland impressed.
In the final two weeks of the transfer window, signing a striker has to be a big priority for Unai Emery, who is preparing his Aston Villa side for their ‘difficult’ trip to West Ham on Saturday.
Ollie Watkins played almost every game for Villa last season, and while he produced an outrageous 37-goal contributions in all competitions, the Englishman did show signs of fatigue towards the end.
Emery will now be worried about Watkins heading into the new campaign with the 28-year-old not playing a single minute in pre-season.
With Cameron Archer also poised to exit Villa on loan and Jhon Duran’s future far from certain, the Spanish tactician needs to sign a rival striker after prime target Joao Felix admitted he’d prefer to join Chelsea.
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Aston Villa should sign Borussia Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko on loan
Villa have been chasing Atletico Madrid forward Felix throughout this window however, there is another quality striker who Emery could sign on loan instead.
German outlet BILD report that Borussia Dortmund are willing to loan out their young forward Youssoufa Moukoko but only if the buying club agrees on an obligation to buy for £13 million.
The 19-year-old burst onto the scene at a very young age in the Bundesliga, becoming the youngest player in the competition’s history when he appeared one day after his 16th birthday for Dortmund against Hertha Berlin in 2020.
He replaced current Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland on that day, who waxed lyrical over the teenager at the time, claiming Moukoko was the ‘biggest talent in the world’.
Judging by his statistics in the youth setup, it was clear to see why Haaland thought that about him, scoring an eye-watering 90 goals in 56 appearances for Dortmund’s under-17 side and then a further 47 in 25 for the under-19s.
For the first-team, he’s understandably found the step up a little more difficult, plundering 18 goals in 99 appearances, which is still a respectable return for someone who doesn’t turn 20 still November.
Moukoko could be the perfect rival for Ollie Watkins
In the early stages of his career, the 2-cap German international has been compared to iconic striker Sergio Aguero, as per the Bundesliga official website, with the youngster sharing similar traits to the Argentine.
Moukoko has been described as a ‘fleet-footed, agile and an intelligent finisher’, which is what Aguero was and it’s such comments that are reinforced by his attacking metrics.
Last season, he struck five times in the German top division despite only playing 613 minutes, which is one goal every 122 minutes.
For comparison, Villa marksman Watkins scored a goal every 160 minutes at a conversion rate of 25%. Of course, the Englishman played far more than Moukoko, but it shows how clinical the Dortmund youngster can be.
The record-breaking talent also ranked in the top 6% of strikers across Europe for non-penalty goals per 90, which were statistically similar numbers to Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
Despite his young age, Moukoko has shown glimpses of his talent on the biggest stage and signing the clinical forward on loan could be a smart piece of business for Emery.
