Duran 2.0: Aston Villa in contact with “one of the best strikers in the PL”
da premier bet： Aston Villa just missed out on a Champions League spot at the final hurdle last season in the Premier League.
da bet7： In the end, goal difference would be the sickener that separated Newcastle United and Villa in the fifth and sixth spots in the tough division, as Unai Emery and Co. prepare for Europa League football now, instead of sitting around Europe’s more exclusive table.
Emery will hope he can guide his team back into those elusive top five positions this forthcoming campaign, with plenty of new signings presumably needed to make this dream a reality.
Aston Villa contacted over deal for new attacker
First and foremost, however, Villa will be praying a number of their first-team superstars remain in the West Midlands past this summer’s hectic transfer window.
Already, the Villans have managed to tie down Boubacar Kamara to a fresh deal, but it remains to be seen whether Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers will stay put right up to September’s early deadline.
RB Leipzig goal machine Lois Openda looks to already be on the Premier League side’s radar in case Watkins does depart, alongside another prolific attacker reportedly catching Emery and Co’s eye as they look to add in more reinforcements up top.
Indeed, an exclusive report by journalist Graeme Bailey has revealed that Villa have been contacted over striking up a deal for Fulham marksman Rodrigo Muniz, as he weighs up his potential options amid ongoing Cottagers contract talks.
Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have also had intermediaries at their door from Muniz, with Leeds United also named in the past as an onlooker keen on snapping up the Brazilian, who already has 17 Premier League goals next to his name at Craven Cottage.
Villa will hope they can get even more out of Muniz if he decides to relocate to Villa Park shortly, hopeful that he could become their next Jhon Duran in the process, having had to wave goodbye to the Colombian rather prematurely.
Why Muniz can become Villa's next Duran
Villa would have been silly to turn down Al-Nassr’s advances last summer, however, as the Saudi Pro League outfit coughed up a whopping £65m for the South American’s services.
That is quite the steep price to pay for an attacker that had only managed to register 16 strikes in the West Midlands from 78 games, but Duran’s unique ability to come off the substitute bench at a moment’s notice and cause havoc, with his teammate in Rogers even describing him as a “handful”, meant Al-Nassr had to cough up some significant bucks to land their desired target.
Duran’s numbers for Villa vs Muniz’s numbers for Fulham
Stat
Duran
Muniz
Games played
78
97
Games started
16
47
Minutes played
2981
4078
Goals scored
20
26
Assists
1
3
Stats by Sofascore
Amazingly, despite only amassing 16 starts in England, Duran would still tally up a lethal 20 goals for his side, with Muniz showing a similar cutting edge in front of goal last season for Marco Silva’s men.
The ex-Flamengo striker only started eight Premier League contests in total, yet still managed to show off a similar potency that became an effective weapon for the Cottagers to latch onto, with a whirlwind eight strikes registered.
The in-demand number nine could well become even more of a threat if he is given the reins to become Villa’s leading man very shortly, having also been hailed as “one of the best strikers in the Premier League” on his day by Craven Cottage teammate Willian.
Even if Watkins were to stay, this feels like a deal that would be worth signing off on, especially if Muniz is also content with the idea of being a scorching hot option off the bench in the West Midlands.
His potential role as the new Duran is also enhanced by the fact that the pair produced a statistically similar performance during the 2023/24 Premier League season, as per FBref.
With Rogers also potentially by his side, the “strong” centre-forward – as he’s been labelled by Premier League icon Alan Shearer – should be able to reach even loftier heights, with Villa fans keen to cheer on another goalscoring hero if a deal is secured.
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