As Unai Emery and Aston Villa embark on an important second half of the season, competing in both Premier League (currently eighth and four points out of the top four) i UEFA Champions League (currently fifth in the league standings), the work they manage to do this month could be incredibly important to the success of their season.
Villanova are currently showing interest in more deals for the January window, s Borussia Dortmund striker Donyell Malen is currently the subject of great interestwith two already rejected offers for the 25-year-old Bundesliga player.
But Aston Villa will be chasing any new opportunities in the window to strengthen Emery’s squad, hoping to deliver an excellent second half of the season, challenge for the top four again and aim to reach the next stage of the Champions League. League.
Aston Villa transfer news
According to they report from RMC SportAston Villa are mulling a move for out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain striker Marco Asensi. The French giants are said to be ready to let the 28-year-old Spaniard leave the club this month, having played only a minor role so far this season.
Asensio has he has made 15 appearances for PSG so far this seasonscoring two goals and four assists in 748 minutes. Many of these minutes have come in the unfamiliar role of centre-forward, playing more as a false nine, compared to his more natural attacking midfielder/wide roles.
This could present a good opportunity for Aston Villa, reminiscent of Philippe Coutinho in 2021/22, when they signed him on loan during the January transfer window, before making the move permanent in the 2022 summer transfer window, pouncing on the opportunity signed by a high level technician.
Aston Villa’s next Coutinho
Coutinho arrived at Villa from Barcelona, costing around £17m after an initial six-month loan. In his time for the Villans, Coutinho made 43 appearancesscoring six goals, three assists and a total of 2296 minutes played.
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Marco Asensio (24/25) vs Philippe Coutinho (21/22) comparison |
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|---|---|---|
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Statistics (per 90 minutes) |
Asensio |
Coutinho |
|
Objectives |
0.24 |
0.32 |
|
Assists |
0.48 |
0.14 |
|
xG |
0.67 |
0.32 |
|
xAG |
0.34 |
0.15 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.53 |
3.70 |
|
Progressive passes |
4.46 |
6.11 |
|
Total strokes |
3.49 |
3.24 |
|
Key passes |
1.93 |
1.25 |
|
Actions to create a shot |
4.34 |
3.66 |
|
Statistics taken from FBref |
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Comparing the season when Coutinho joined Villa to Asensi’s current numbers at PSG this season, you can see how the Spaniard would offer good attacking quality for Emery’s side. While Coutinho has had the better goalscoring record in that period, Asensio has actually generated more xG and xAG (expected goals and expected assisted goals) so far in the 2024/25 season in comparison.
The Expected Goals (xG) metric is designed to measure the probability that a shot will result in a goal.
Coutinho offered a bit more in terms of progressive metrics, but Asensio, while still ranking well in these metrics, also offers more final third production at the moment, with better output, higher shot volume and more key passes/shot creation actions per 90 .
At just 28, Asensio – who Vicente del Bosque claimed was “world class player” – still clearly has the quality to play at the highest level and could provide Aston Villa with another versatile attacking option, who has Champions League experience, which could prove invaluable to their campaign.
