Aston Villa are interested in bringing Juventus striker Moise Kean to the club, in a deal which could see Douglas Luiz head in the opposite direction.
The Lowdown: Season in Turin
The former Everton man has spent the season on loan at Juventus, with the Italian giants having an obligation to purchase the striker for £28m this summer, having originally sold the forward to the Toffees for an initial £25m in 2019.
However, it looks like the 12-time Italy international’s permanent move could be short-lived, with the striker linked with a move back to the Premier League.
The Latest: Villa interested
According to Italian journalist Marcello Chirico, Aston Villa are interested in making a move for the 6-foot striker, which would result in Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz moving in the other direction.
“@AVFCOfficial is interested in #Kean. Offered as a counterpart the midfielder #DouglasLuiz 24 years old, Olympic gold medal with the green-gold national team in Tokyo,” he tweeted.
The transfer would still mean that Juve would be obligated to pay the £28m to Everton this summer when the transfer eventually goes through.
The Verdict: Not worth the risk
Despite former manager Thomas Tuchel describing the striker as “fearless” and “courageous” during his time at Paris Saint-Germain, this isn’t a move you’d endorse Villa making.
Whilst Danny Ings has had a particularly underwhelming season in a claret and blue shirt, the move for Kean is not worth Villa losing one of their best midfielders for next season.
The £21.6m-rated striker has only scored six goals in 42 Juventus appearances this season according to Transfermarkt, providing three assists along the way.
The 22-year-old also doesn’t provide much in the way of shot-creating actions compared to Villa’s main two strikers, with Kean providing an average 0.82 per 90 minutes according to FBref, which is less than both Ings (1.47) and Ollie Watkins (2.20).
He hasn’t been trusted to play on a regular basis in his time in Serie A, playing in just 16.1% of minutes available to him this season, whilst Ings (55.5%) and Watkins (86.3%) have mostly been trusted to lead the line when they’ve been fit, according to the same stats provider.
The current Juve man has earned himself a SofaScore rating of 6.50 for his performances in Serie A this season, suggesting that he has played below par when given the opportunity for the Old Lady.
Whilst Villa’s strike partnership hasn’t come to fruition as of yet, there is still time for Steven Gerrard to embed his own style on his front two in pre-season, and it definitely wouldn’t be worth losing one of his best midfielders to take a risk on a striker who has rarely performed to a high level over the past 12 months.
In other news, Aston Villa are closing in on 49-goal prodigy, will cost just six figures…