From stunning starlets to Serie A flops – which attackers should Aston Villa splash the cash on this summer?

One element of Unai Emery’s plan for Aston Villa’s next season is clear – he wants to increase his options in attack, not just in terms of strength in depth but also in tactical versatility. The Birmingham club have been linked with a host of flexible forwards who can play across attacking midfield or even up top, ranging from rising talents to established stars.

Five players seem to have leapt to the top of the list, and it’s clear that even with Aston Villa’s ambition they won’t be buying all of them – so we’re going to go through the apparent top five and check out who they are, what they’re capable of and which ones would represent the best investment as Villa try build on an impressive end to the Premier League campaign.

Ferran Torres

The Barcelona wide forward has been linked with Villa for a few months now, and the strength of the rumours has only increased as Torres was named as one of the players the Catalan club view as expendable as they look to defend their Spanish championship crown.

Having impressed at Valencia, Torres failed to establish himself as a first-team regular at Manchester City despite impressive numbers during his first season at the Etihad – and he has failed to maintain his momentum since moving to Barcelona, underperforming his xG both seasons he was in Catalonia and finding himself relegated to the role of impact sub.

Torres is far from flawless – his relatively lanky frame means he can be bullied off the ball too easily, and he doesn’t contribute as much to the build-up as is typically expected from wide forwards. But he’s still a fast and fine dribbler and gets into plenty of dangerous areas in the final third, and would certainly offer a more direct threat than Villa have in their squad as it stands. Barcelona reportedly want a deal worth around £30m, which would be a good investment if he can find his shooting boots again – but a bad one if his decline at Barcelona proves to be permanent. Confidence would be key if Villa decided to move in this direction, but they could provide precisely the fresh start he seems to need to get his career back on track.

Moussa Diaby

The lightning-quick Bayer Leverkusen forward – who usually plays on the flanks but can also play through the middle – is reported to have given the green light for a move to Villa while negotiations over a fee continue, with the outlay being anywhere between £25m and £40m, depending on which sources you believe.

Diaby has racked up a hugely impressive 67 goal contributions during his four Bundesliga seasons, peaking with 13 goals and 12 assists in the 2021/22 campaign. That represented a colossal overshoot of his xG and there was some regression to the mean as he underperformed in front of goal this past year, although he still netted nine times.

Another extremely direct threat, like Torres he’s both a ball-carrier and a finisher with an extremely strong track record of scoring and creating goals. He’s also better in the build-up than the Spaniard when played in deeper roles, although it should be noted that his defensive contributions are rather laughable – you don’t bring him in if you want to execute a coherent team pressing game at all times. That said, his record in the final third is so impressive that he could easily become a huge difference-maker in the Premier League.

Charles De Ketelaere

Having compiled a hugely impressive early career in Belgium, Italian giants AC Milan dropped a cool €35m to secure his signature last summer – only for the 22-year-old to flop. Supporter patience has worn thin and his biggest admirer, technical director Paolo Maldini, has been ousted in a boardroom coup. De Ketelaere is very much on the transfer list.

Playing primarily as a number ten but happy to drift out wide and exploit the channels, the young Belgian scored 14 goals in his final season for Club Brugge but failed to find the target all season in Milan, and only contributed one assist all campaign. He’s still a good ball-carrier with a knack for playing quick give-and-gos around the area, but is desperately lacking in form and confidence.

The question is whether his dreadful year in Italy indicates a player who can’t cut it at a higher level, or whether it’s simply a matter of a young man struggling to adapt to a new team and playing style. Signing him would unquestionably be a gamble, especially given that Milan are keen to recoup the lion’s share of their outlay – he is unlikely to set Villa back anything less than £25m. A very risky purchase who also offers less tactical versatility than the other players in this list.

Brennan Johnson

A recent rumour linking Villa to a £40m swoop for the hugely impressive Nottingham Forest forward has generated a fair bit of excitement already, and Johnson has become a huge fan favourite at Forest after scoring 24 goals in his first two seasons.

Capable of playing on either flank or as a forward, his quick feet and direct running – added to a very respectable return in front of goal – makes him look like a pretty safe investment if Forest can be persuaded to part with his services. He certainly passes the eye test.

The underlying numbers are still a concern, however. His shooting statistics are mediocre and he actually underperformed his xG last campaign with his eight goals, while his passing numbers are frankly laughable, with a shocking completion rate of just 57.6% and less than one successful progressive pass per game. He also has an underwhelming dribbling success rate despite the appearance that it’s one of his great strengths. There is far more to the game than just raw numbers, of course, and at 22 he has plenty of room to grow – but it’s hard to imagine spending £40m would be better than spending less on some of the other options available.

Willy Gnonto

Another player with bags of potential, the 19-year-old Italian international caught a lot of eyes despite Leeds United’s relegation from the Premier League – and despite only scoring twice in his 24 appearances.

Gnonto has plenty of great attributes, not least of which is knack for finding space in the final third – he can carve room out where there didn’t appear to be any, as evinced by his nine progressive receptions per game. He’s also a very decent dribbler whose success rate could be better but who nevertheless generates a lot of yardage for his team.

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He’s also got a good delivery from out wide, but for an inside forward he doesn’t get into enough shooting positions, with just 1.46 attempts on goal per 90 minutes last season. There’s no question that he needs to round out his game to become a genuine all-round threat. Where he certainly shines compared to the other four players mentioned is his defensive contribution – a willing worker, he also has very impressive turnover numbers and gets in more tackles and blocked passes than the vast majority of wide forwards in the biggest leagues. The press have suggested a price of anywhere between £20m and £40m so far this summer (which just tells you that nobody has a clue what Leeds want for him) so it’s hard to judge where he’s sit as a value-for-money option, but there’s certainly no question that with the right coaching he could become a stellar player – and he never gives his side less than 100%.