Sporting are reportedly planning for the exit of Aston Villa transfer target Pedro Goncalves and have a replacement in mind for their star man.
The 24-year-old enjoyed another productive campaign this past season, scoring 20 goals and providing 15 assists in 51 appearances for the Portuguese giants.
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It continued a trend over the past few years where Goncalves has been an influential and decisive figure in the final third for Sporting, and unsurprisingly, it has led to interest from elsewhere.
As per A Bola last week, Villa had made an approach for the Portuguese international to understand the conditions of a potential sale this summer, and so it remains to be seen if an official offer is submitted, and whether or not we can reach an agreement on terms with both Sporting and Goncalves himself.
Now, according to O Jogo, Sporting foresee an ‘imminent sale’ of their star playmaker, and have identified Ivan Jaime as his replacement.
It’s added in the report that Villa are ‘looking closely’ at Goncalves and the deal ‘could go ahead soon’ as we’re said to be in the lead to land his signature, and so it certainly sounds promising as the situation appears to be continuously developing.
Goncalves would undoubtedly be a brilliant signing for Unai Emery given his technical ability, creativity and eye for goal, as he would add real quality to our attacking play in the final third to either complement or rival Emiliano Buendia and provide service for the likes of Ollie Watkins.
As Villa look to continue to make progress in the Premier League and climb the standings while also competing for domestic silverware next season, we will also hopefully have a deep run in the Europa Conference League.
In order to be able to compete on multiple fronts, we need to add competition and depth to the squad as well as marquee signings that significantly improve us, and so it remains to be seen if Goncalves emerges as the latter as the ongoing reports in Portugal certainly paint a relatively positive picture for us.