Report: Aston Villa eyeing £35m forward once deemed on par with Vinicius Jr

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Aston Villa have reportedly set their sights on Almeria’s Largie Ramazani.

Diario de Almeria, via Sport Witness, claims the Villans are ‘keeping tabs’ on the 22-year-old Belgian winger.

Villa have already got the ball rolling in the summer transfer window with the signing of Youri Tielemans.

However, the Villans still have over two months left to keep bolstering their ranks ahead of a big season.

Villa bounced back under Unai Emery and will be competing in the Europa Conference League in 2023-24.

With that in mind, the Villans need to increase their strength in depth so as to compete on four fronts.

Meanwhile, Ramazani is a regular for his club, getting five goal contributions from 33 La Liga outings last term.

According to Diario de Almeria, the club feels ‘the time has come to sell him’.

Ramazani’s contract runs until 2025, and a renewal is not currently on the cards, claimed the report.

Villa are apparently one of the clubs monitoring the 22-year-old, believing he has ‘potential for growth’.

Ramazani is deemed a ‘sellable’ asset and his club knows he continues to have a ‘good reputation’ in England.

The Belgian played for Manchester United’s Under-18s and Under-23s before moving to Spain in 2020.

Better still for Villa, Almeria are not expected to ask for an “exorbitant amount” if he is sold.

They reportedly see his departure as a “win-win” because he has not extended his contract.

Prior reports have suggested that Ramazani has a €40million (£35million) release clause.

Our view

Ramazani is a great prospect who already has considerable top-flight experience despite his young age.

Breaking the Lines noted how well he did against Real Madrid last September, in his first La Liga match for them.

They suggested he was very much on par with Los Blancos and Brazil star Vinicius Jr in that game.

‘What is impressive about Ramazani is that he was able to make the leap to La Liga, looking like a fish in water,’ they wrote.

‘And while his first game was against Real Madrid, he was too good that it was really hard to make the difference between him and Vinicius Jr in the pitch, especially during counters.

‘It took Ramazani only 6 minutes to unlock the score in his first Spanish top flight game against the Champions of Europe.’

In addition, he has spent time in English football, so he should be able to hit the ground running if he returns.