Exclusive: Aston Villa rival Chelsea & Arsenal for €50million attacker transfer

Aston Villa are set to enter the market for a new striker in the summer, with Porto front-man Samu Aghehowa emerging as a transfer target to replace Jhon Duran.

Sources with a close understanding of the situation have informed CaughtOffside that the talented young Spain international is on Villa’s radar, along with long-time admirers such as Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham.

Aghehowa only joined Porto from Atletico Madrid last summer, but he’s performed superbly during his time in Portugal, scoring 19 goals in 31 games in all competitions.

Chelsea were strongly in for Aghehowa before he ended up joining Porto, and they remain interested in the 20-year-old, but Villa are also majorly stepping up their interest.

One issue, however, is that Aghehowa is now valued as highly as €50million, so it remains to be seen which clubs will be able or willing to meet that asking price.

Samu Aghehowa set for a big transfer to the Premier League?

Samu Aghehowa in action for FC Porto

Aghehowa could be ideal to give Villa another top young striker to fill the void left by Duran, whilst also giving Unai Emery an alternative to Ollie Watkins.

It could surely be tempting for Aghehowa to move to Villa Park right now as they’re a club on the up, but it would also be interesting to see if Chelsea or Arsenal could tempt the player.

The Blues certainly need something different up front after Nicolas Jackson’s inconsistent form, so they’ll surely consider a number of strikers this summer.

Arsenal’s issues up front are also well documented, with Mikel Arteta relying on Kai Havertz in that position, even though it’s not necessarily his best role.

Meanwhile, the Gunners have also had problems with Gabriel Jesus’ fitness, so they could arguably do with more than one reinforcement in attack this summer.