Aston Villa step up striker pursuit as insanely low asking price for 153-goal target emerges | OneFootball

Aston Villa are reportedly ready to intensify their pursuit of one of their top targets for the summer transfer window, after learning the shock asking price the Serie A striker could now be available for.

Unai Emery’s side are currently on a run of just one win in their last seven outings in all competitions, at a time when they are in a scrap to secure a top-five Premier League finish that should guarantee Champions League football for next season.

Aston Villa have also scored just five goals in those seven games, with their attack being completely blunted and leaving Emery an exasperated figure on the sidelines.

Tammy Abraham was brought back to the club in an £18million deal from Besiktas in the January window and has scored twice in seven appearances to date, while Ollie Watkins has emerged as a major target for Newcastle United.

Should Watkins head to Tyneside, it’s expected that Villa will look to bring in at least one new No.9 in the summer window, and one player who is very much in their thinking is Juventus star Jonathan David.

The Canada international has notched just seven times in 38 outings in all competitions for Juve so far this term, after joining the Turin giants on a free transfer from Lille last summer.

David initially did fairly well at Juventus, scoring five goals in 12 games while leading marksman Dusan Vlahovic was sidelined, but his form has tailed off significantly since then.

Indeed, he was subbed at half-time of Juve’s 4-0 win over Pisa at the weekend. The score was 0-0 at that point.

However, the 26-year-old has proven to be a prolific striker at club level for a number of years now, with 153 goals to his name, and remains an attractive proposition despite his struggles in Italy.

And now a fresh report from Italian outlet Calciomercato claims that David could be on his way out of Juventus after just one season, with Villa firmly in the mix for his signature – as our sources also recently reported.

Indeed, the Calcio report even suggests that the former Gent star could cost as little as €15-18million (£13-15.5m), a fee considered incredibly low for a player with David’s goalscoring pedigree who still has four years left on his contract.

Rather dramatically, the report also adds that David’s ‘bags are packed’ and that he is set to leave Turin barring any ‘changes of heart’, with Villa now ready to step up their pursuit.

TEAMtalk can reveal how Villa and Newcastle are leading the charge to sign a talented Borussia Dortmund star, who is keen to test himself in the Premier League, amid a belief that a free transfer looks very much on this summer.

Elsewhere, our sources can exclusively reveal that Unai Emery is attracting growing attention from several clubs across Europe and beyond, with one heavyweight in particular standing out.

Finally, Villa are competing with Everton and, perhaps surprisingly, Wrexham in the race for a Premier League player who is set to be available on a free transfer this summer.