Aston Villa
Premier League • England
Aston Villa chasing Championship bargain with £10m bid tipped to unlock Leicester coup
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery
Aston Villa could move for Leicester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho in the January transfer window as Unai Emery looks to bolster his attacking options.
The Villans are seeking to add a forward to their ranks in the winter to provide competition and boost their push for Champions League qualification.
Villa are having a superb season and sit third in the Premier League table on 39 points from 18 games, having missed the chance to go top after a 1-1 home draw with Sheffield United on Friday.
Unai Emery’s side have also progressed to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League after finishing top of Group E ahead of Legia Warsaw, AZ Alkmaar and HŠK Zrinjski Mostar – with 13 points from six games.
According to Football Insider, Villa are hopeful that a fee of around £5m-£10m could convince Leicester to let Iheanacho leave in January.
Iheanacho’s contract at the King Power Stadium will run until the end of the 2023/24 season and FI outlined that talks over a new deal have ‘failed to progress’.
Ollie Watkins is Villa’s main striker and has been outstanding this season, scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists in 25 appearances in all competitions.
The 27-year-old England international hit doubles figures in the Premier League in each of the previous three seasons since joining from Brentford and already has nine in 18 games this campaign.
Moussa Diaby has also featured as a forward for Villa since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, but primarily operates as a right-winger or behind the striker.
Jhon Duran is another centre forward in Villa’s squad, but the 20-year-old Colombian has seen limited game time under Unai Emery.
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Iheanacho has Premier League pedigree
Iheanacho has scored six goals in 20 games for Leicester in all competitions this season as the Foxes look almost certain to make an immediate return to the Premier League.
The Nigerian international, who has scored 15 times in 50 outings for his country, found the net 42 times in 196 appearances in the English top flight.
The 27-year-old forward has scored 61 goals in 226 games across all competitions for Leicester since joining from Manchester City in 2017.
Leicester are top of the Championship with 58 points at the halfway stage of the season after 23 games and are six points clear of second-placed Ipswich Town and 13 points clear of third-placed Leeds United.