Aston Villa reportedly scouted Sporting ace Pedro Goncalves this past weekend after previous speculation pairing us with an interest.
The 24-year-old is continuing to play a key role for the Portuguese outfit, scoring 16 goals and providing eight assists in 36 appearances so far this season.
READ MORE: Who is Pedro Goncalves? Analysis of touted Villa transfer target
As per Record last month, Villa have been tipped to ‘come with force’ to try and sign the attacking ace this summer, and although there was no sense that an agreement was close over a transfer at that stage, it seems our interest remains ahead of a potential swoop at the end of the season.
Record now report that a Villa scout was sent to watch him during Sporting’s encounter with Portimonense this past weekend, and we could have a presence at their Europa League clash with Arsenal this week too. If accurate, that certainly suggests that we are taking a very close look at Goncalves before launching a possible bid to sign him this summer.
Time will tell if he is able to impress and convince both Villa and Unai Emery that he would be a smart addition to the squad ahead of next season, with the Spaniard undoubtedly set to be backed this summer as he looks to mould the squad into his own.
Goncalves has shown his quality for Sporting in recent years and would add technical quality, creativity and an eye for goal to our current side in the final third, and would also perhaps play a key role in Emery’s desire to control and dominate possession in games and play a certain brand of football.
With his awareness, positioning and football intelligence, it could be a sensible reinforcement to complement the options we currently have, or perhaps replace one of them, but ultimately the report above suggests that we’re still analysing and assessing at this stage, perhaps before making a decision on whether or not Goncalves will be a priority transfer target for us this summer.
