Aston Villa are on track to finish in the top five of the Premier League and qualify for the Champions League for the second time in the last three seasons.
The Villains have become regulars in Europe under manager Unai Emery, despite not being part of the ‘traditional Big Six’ and even appearing in the Championship in 2019.
While they may not be able to sign the best players from the biggest clubs in the transfer market, they have been creative and brought in underrated players who would not have made it to the ‘bigger’ teams.
Emi Martinez and Morgan Rodgers are prime examples of this, as they underperformed at Arsenal and Manchester City respectively, before eventually becoming stars at Aston Villa.
Rodgers left City’s academy to sign for Middlesbrough before the Villans snapped up a deal from the Championship side for a fee of up to £16m in 2024.
Aston Villa eyeing Premier League centre-forward
Villa hit the jackpot when signing the English attacking midfielder. Because he went on to score 29 goals and record 26 assists in 119 games for the club.
Now Emery could repeat that masterclass with a move to sign another player who is not deemed good enough for one of the traditional top six teams.
Aston Villa are among the clubs targeting Chelsea centre-forward Nicholas Jackson, who could become their first signing of next summer’s transfer window, according to SportsBoom.
According to the report, Bayern Munich have no plans to sign him permanently after his loan spell with the German giants ends, leaving the door open for Villa and Newcastle United to seek his signature.
He added that Chelsea were willing to accept a bid of £60m for the Senegalese international. This is because the player is unlikely to return to the first team, which would strengthen the next manager’s budget.
Sportboom revealed that Emery, who worked with Jackson at Villarreal, is a long-time fan of Jackson and could sign him to replace Ollie Watkins.
Nicholas Jackson will become Aston Villa’s new Morgan Rodgers
In modern football, it’s easy to label a player a failure if, as in Jackson’s case, he hasn’t played perfectly or the club decides to move on from him.
After two full seasons at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have decided to loan the striker out and are now considering a sale, but that doesn’t mean they should give up on Aston Villa. After all, Man City once decided to sell Rodgers to a Championship team.
Villa should therefore take this as an opportunity to sign a striker who has proven to be a major threat in front of goal at Premier League level.
In his first season at Stamford Bridge, the Senegalese international recorded the fifth highest xG in the entire Premier League in 2023/24, and also ranked 10th in 2024/25 with 12.34 xG.
Jackson has also started 13 games for Bayern Munich this season in the Bundesliga and Champions League, scoring 8.77xG and scoring 10 goals, showing he has been effective in limited game time for the German giants.
The 24-year-old attacker is not the most clinical striker in Europe, scoring just 24 goals from 30.98 xG in the Premier League for Chelsea, but he does provide value in generating xG through his physicality, pace and movement.
Despite his poor xG performance, 24 goals in two Premier League seasons is nothing to scoff at. For example, Watkins has scored 27 goals in the last two league seasons for Villa, but this season he has scored 11 goals with a lower xG of 12.22.
Jackson could therefore be Villa’s next version of Rodgers, a quality attacker who was not deemed good enough to make the grade at one of the ‘big six’ clubs.
There is value in signing the 24-year-old marksman, a proven goalscorer in the Premier League, and he could emerge as the next star alongside Rodgers if the club spends the £60m required for the Blues to let him go.
Aston Villa in race to sign Champions League’s best tackler
The Villains are keen to sign an “explosive” player.
