An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their transfer targets heading into the summer window…
What’s the latest on Marcus Thuram to Aston Villa?
According to Spanish outlet Sport, NSWE are interested in landing a deal to sign Borussia Monchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram at the end of the season.
The Villans are reportedly one of a number of clubs in the race to land the French international on a free transfer, alongside the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal.
Thuram’s contract with the German outfit is up in the summer and the report claims that Daniel Farke’s team have all but given up hope of him penning an extension.
Will Emery ditch Leon Bailey for Thuram?
It has been reported that Unai Emery wants to sign a tall, athletic, wide attacker to bolster his squad in the summer and that could be to fill the role that Leon Bailey has played alongside Ollie Watkins in recent weeks.
The Jamaican international has not been a consistent threat for Villa at the top end of the pitch this season and bringing in a player of Thuram’s quality could oust him from the side and force supporters to wave bye-bye to the winger – as a player at the club or just as a regular starter.
Bailey has scored three goals and provided two assists in 17 Premier League starts this term, whilst averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.68 – placing him 16th in the squad.
This comes after the forward managed one goal and two assists in 18 top-flight outings for the Villans in the 2021/22 campaign and his poor form in front of goals since arriving at the club indicates that the wide attacker is not a reliable attacking threat for Emery.
Thuram, meanwhile, has been sensational in the Bundesliga this season and his statistics for Gladbach suggest that the marksman, who stands at 6 foot 4, could be the perfect Bailey replacement.
The gem, who was once hailed as a “monster” by his former manager Herve Renard, can play out wide or through the middle – playing 92 matches as a left-winger and 92 as a centre-forward in his career – and this indicates that he would suit the wide attacker role next to Watkins, as the forward knows how to play in those wide and central areas.
In the German top-flight this term, the French international has plundered ten goals and three assists – averaging a Sofascore rating of 7.09 – across 18 outings.
He also managed 18 goals and 15 assists in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 Bundesliga campaigns combined, which suggests that his form this term is not a fluke.
Therefore, Thuram could come in as a big upgrade on Bailey in the wide forward role next to Watkins, given their respective efforts in the final third in recent years, and that is why it could be bye-bye for the latter in the summer.
