Aston Villa have are targeting a deal for Porto striker Samu Aghehowa as a potential replacement for Jhon Duran.
Villa sanctioned the sale of Duran during the January transfer window with the forward joining Al Nassr in a deal worth €77m (£63.7m). Unai Emery’s team also turned down a £60m proposal from Arsenal for fellow forward Ollie Watkins late in the window.
Villa want to bring in another centre-forward in the summer and have identified Aghehowa as a replacement for Duran. The 20-year-old has scored 19 goals in 30 appearances across all competitions for Porto since joining the club from Atletico Madrid last summer.
Agehowa scored during Porto’s 3-2 defeat at Roma on Thursday as the Portuguese side exited the Europa League. It was his sixth European goal of the season, with only Olympiacos’ Ayoub El-Kaabi (7) having netted more. That return includes a brace in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Manchester United earlier in the campaign.
🇪🇸⭐️ | After 8 Matches without scoring, 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐮 𝐀𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐚 (𝟐𝟎) is back to the Goals pic.twitter.com/VHvvFOP3tZ
— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) February 20, 2025
Aghehowa came close to joining Chelsea in a £34m deal last summer but a deal collapsed due to concerns over an ankle issue in his medical. Porto swooped in to sign the striker, purchasing 50% of his rights for €15m (£12.4m). He has since impressed in Portugal and made his international debut for Spain in November.
Spanish outlet Fichajes are reporting that Villa are now keen on a deal. However, Porto are reluctant to lose the forward, who signed a five-year contract at the Estádio do Dragão last summer. His deal with the Portuguese side contains a release clause of €100m (£82.7m).
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