Aston Villa are reportedly in pole position in the race to land the signature of talented Feyenoord youngster Zepiqueno Redmond.
The 18-year-old has worked his way through the youth ranks with the Dutch giants since joining them in July 2019, while he’s been capped seven times at U19s level for the Netherlands.
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Capable of playing across the front line but with centre-forward being his more natural role, Redmond has the versatility to play in different positions to go along with his talent and potential in the final third.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa are leading the race to sign him having begun talks with Feyenoord over a transfer deal, and so it remains to be seen if we can fend off the competition and secure his signing this summer.
Naturally, given his age and inexperience, it’s certainly a signing for the future rather than an immediate option for Unai Emery, but evidently the Villa recruitment and scouting team have spotted his talent and believe that he has a bright future ahead of him which fits what we’re building at the club.
That said, it’s certainly an area of the senior squad that will need to be looked at this summer in terms of a more instant solution too, as with Marcus Rashford’s loan spell set to expire at the end of the season, that leaves us with Ollie Watkins as our only option to lead the line.
In turn, Emery will want to add more firepower to the group ahead of next season to ensure we can compete across multiple fronts, but Redmond may be a longer-term solution if he does indeed arrive and continues to build on his potential.
It could also be part of a wider transfer strategy that Villa have adopted in recent times, as with the pressure of being compliant with PSR, we must continue to develop young talent and sell them on for a profit to continue to balance our books, and so time will tell if firstly Redmond is added to our youth set-up, and if he is considered a prospect to be utilised in-house or as a transfer tool in the future.
