Aston Villa are looking for a striker option to add competition for Ollie Watkins to their squad. Links to Artem Dovbyk have come up and he could prove to be an excellent addition.
It has been made no secret that Aston Villa are after attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window.
At the time of writing, the only “senior” and recognised striker at the club is Ollie Watkins. This isn’t to say he hasn’t been superb as he has nine goals and eight assists already, an amazing return.
With that being said, however, should he get injured or suspended, Villa would be left extremely light in that number nine position.
This isn’t helped by the wantaway nature of Jhon Duran in recent weeks who has been linked to AC Milan. He is the only other player whose primary position is as a striker so if he leaves, there will be just one in Watkins.
In the January transfer window, signing a striker may be a priority and there is one man linked who is tearing apart the La Liga.
Aston Villa linked to Artem Dovbyk
There have been links to new signings like Cyril Ngonge which appear to have gone quiet in the past week or so.
There have been links since the beginning of the month rumouring Villa’s interest in Girona star, Artem Dovbyk.
This was reported by Fichajes who have suggested that there is interest coming from various Premier League outfits this winter.
On that, they said: “Aston Villa, guided by Unai Emery, sees in the Ukrainian the answer to its needs in the centre-forward position, both in the Premier League and in the Spanish coach’s playing system.
“With the Premier League as a possible destination for Artem Dovbyk, the transfer market is preparing to receive one of LaLiga’s sensations, while English clubs compete to secure the services of this talented forward who has shone on the football scene.”
It would appear that this interest is there in spite of Girona flying high in the LaLiga table. This would make you believe they wouldn’t be keen to sell.
Aston Villa should sign him as Watkins’ deputy
It is safe to say that Dovbyk has had an excellent campaign. According to FotMob, he has 11 goals and five assists across his 14 starts in LaLiga. This form has helped carry Girona to second place in the league, level with Real Madrid.
Looking at his Fbref profile, he registers extremely high across various statistics. Per 90 he has over seven touches in the opposition penalty area, 0.65 goals and 0.41 assists. This is a great record which ranks highly in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Ukrainian is great in the air and is more than capable of scoring a header. He is also able to get the ball on the floor and score from that as well.
Given his number of assists, like Watkins, he is also more than happy to feed his teammates for the better of the team.
If he was to sign for Villa, initially at least, he would be an understudy to Watkins. Since he is adept in the air and the Englishman prefers to get in behind, Dovbyk would provide a point of difference.
It is unclear as to how much he could cost this winter but if Villa could get a deal over the line, he could be superb.
