Aston Villa have been scouring the market for a new forward this summer – and Monchi now appears to have settled on a target.
The Spaniard – President of Football Operations at Villa Park – has already negotiated a deal with Juventus to sell Douglas Luiz, while also receiving Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea in return.
Now, Aston Villa‘s attentions are turning towards one of the quickest strikers in Germany…
Aston Villa make contact to sign Maximilian Beier
Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany has now claimed that Aston Villa have made contact with TSG Hoffenheim to sign Maximilian Beier.
The Germany international – who is currently playing at UEFA EURO 2024 – has rapidly risen to become one of the best strikers in the Bundesliga at the age of just 21.
Beier scored 16 goals in 33 Bundesliga appearances last season – while also providing three assists – form which has now prompted Aston Villa to enquire about his availability.
Plettenburg adds that the TSG Hoffenheim No.14 has a release clause worth €30m (£25m) written into his contract – which is an affordable fee for almost every Premier League club nowadays.
Furthermore, the reliable journalist claims that Chelsea have also been in touch with TSG Hoffenheim to ask about Beier, so Unai Emery faces competition from Enzo Maresca – although Aston Villa have the advantage of being able to offer UEFA Champions League football to the striker.
As aforesaid, the man from Brandenburg is one of the quickest players in Germany, and has even been clocked running faster than Kyle Walker.
Monchi could sign the new Thomas Muller for Unai Emery
Interestingly, Beier has actually been compared to Bayern Munich No.25 Thomas Muller – one of the greatest forwards of his generation.
It was Christian Falk, another of Germany’s best journalists like Plettenburg, who compared the Aston Villa target to the 34-year-old when writing for Caught Offside.
Falk claimed: “He can play on the flanks as well as centrally, he’s done it already. It’s a little bit like Thomas Muller in the sense that he’s not exactly a winger or central striker. He can also play behind the No.9 so he’s quite a versatile footballer. He’s very, very fast as well.”
READ MORE: Aston Villa make £13m bid to sign player compared to Nathan Ake after Tottenham contact
Be sure to keep an eye on this situation, as Aston Villa should have no issue paying the £25m release clause if Emery’s interest is serious…