Four-man transfer shortlist touted as Villa look to bolster attacking options

Aston Villa reportedly have a quartet of names in mind as Unai Emery looks to strengthen his attack ahead of the imminent departure of Morgan Rogers.

The 23-year-old is set to join Chelsea in a deal worth £117m this week, and he will join Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne in leaving the club this summer with further exits expected in the coming weeks.

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It comes as part of Villa’s need to balance our books, reduce our wage bill and fund our own spending in order to adhere to financial regulations, and so it will be fascinating to see who emerges as our top transfer targets to continue to improve Emery’s squad.

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Villa have already moved to sign Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes, with the former now tipped to replace Rogers in that key role in the final third, but adding more dynamic options in wide areas is seemingly now the priority for us.

According to The Athletic, Crysencio Summerville and Ibrahim Mbaye have emerged as our priority targets at this stage, but given the former is being heavily linked with a move to Roma who are leading the pursuit of his signature having already made reported offers, it remains to be seen how long he remains an option on our radar.

In turn, that could see Mbaye become the preferred solution, with the talented Paris Saint-Germain winger attracting attention having made a positive impression for club and country despite still only being just 18 years of age.

He has four goals in 15 caps for Senegal, while he’s contributed four goals and four assists in 42 appearances at senior level for PSG after impressing for the U19s, but time will tell if he is the most realistic option available to us.

Meanwhile, the report goes on to add that talks were held with Chelsea over Alejandro Garnacho but there is still some uncertainty over whether or not we’ll step up that particular pursuit, while Nicolas Jackson is again said to be a desired option for Emery having worked with the Senegalese international at Villarreal previously.

That said, any deal with Chelsea will have to be considered carefully, as the profit made on Rogers could be impacted if we were to sign one of their players within 45 days of the deal going through due to UEFA deeming that a player exchange transaction.

Time will tell if that’s a critical factor which prevents us moving for one of their players, but either way, once Rogers completes his move to Stamford Bridge, it certainly sounds as though we’ll be active in continuing to fill that void and improving the squad as a whole with the financial boost that his departure brings.