Aston Villa are blessed with talent up front. They have two excellent centre-forwards in their current squad, namely Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran. The pair have been on fire this season, in what has been an underwhelming campaign for the Villans so far.
The duo are the top scorers at Villa Park this term across all competitions. Colombian international Duran has scored 12 goals, and England centre-forward Watkins, who scored in the Euro 2024 semi-final, has eight goals to his name. Morgan Rogers, with seven strikes to his name, is the only other player with more than five goals.
Incredibly, the Villans are looking to add more depth in the striker department to their squad during the January transfer window.
Villa’s striker target
The player in question here is young French striker Tidiam Gomis. The 18-year-old has been impressive for Ligue 2 side Caen and has now been linked with a move away to some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
According to a report from The Athletic, Villa are one of the sides pursuing the young attacker and actually seem to be leading the race for his signature. They are believed to be ‘in advanced talks’ to bring the 18-year-old to the West Midlands.
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In terms of the other sides who are believed to be interested, German outfit RB Leipzig and Italian giants AC Milan are in the race, according to Florian Plettenberg a few weeks ago. It seems as though the Villans will sign him. A fee is not clear at this stage, but his contract is up this summer and it could cost Unai Emery’s side next to nothing.
Why Gomis could be a good signing
There is no doubt that Villa are signing a player for the future as well as, or perhaps more so than, the present. Plettenberg described Gomis as a “top talent”, and he is certainly living up to that praise in a Caen shirt throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
This term in Ligue 2 for Caen, a club owned by France and Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe, 18-year-old Gomis has scored two goals in 18 league appearances. He has played 1004 minutes this term, which equates to 11 full 90-minute games.
He also made history for the French side during the 2023/24 campaign, when he scored twice in the final game of the season. At the age of 17 years, nine months and 19 days old, he became the youngest player to do so for Caen, an impressive achievement.
Despite the fact he is so inexperienced, Gomis could certainly have a role to play at Villa Park this season if they decide to give him that opportunity. His stats on Sofascore are eye-catching, and he has created two big chances and completed 1.3 dribbles per game.
|
Gomis Ligue 2 stats 2024/25 |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Number |
|
Starts |
12 |
|
Goals |
2 |
|
Big chances created |
2 |
|
Key passes per game |
0.6 |
|
Dribbles per game |
1.3 |
|
Ball recoveries per game |
3.1 |
|
Duels won per game |
2.8 |
|
Stats from Sofascore |
|
Gomis could form a deadly partnership with Villa’s latest recruit, Donyell Malen. On Tuesday evening, they confirmed the signing of the Dutchman from Borussia Dortmund, although it is not a deal that will affect the move for the Frenchman.
The former Arsenal academy player is someone who can both score and assist in attack, playing anywhere across the frontline. His best campaign came for former club PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands in 2020/21, where he scored 19 goals and grabbed eight assists in 32 games.
With those kinds of numbers, he could link up nicely with Gomis and could be a key provider of goals for the youngster. The Frenchman averages 1.2 shots per game and has already scored a couple this season, and with Malen’s obvious creative ability, that might only increase.
The same can be said the other way with Gomis also showing in the past he can be someone who can create chances, even if he is yet to register an assist this term. However, given Malen’s career-high of 19 goals in one campaign, the assists could start flowing for the Caen youngster.
All things considered, this seems to be a risk-free deal for the Villans. He is likely to cost little or nothing at all, and, as the stats show, clearly has talent waiting to be unearthed. Should he form a partnership with Malen, or indeed the likes of Watkins and Duran, it could be deadly for Villa.
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