Amazing Watkins replacement: Aston Villa ready move for "special" £32m CF
It is set to be a busy summer at Aston Villa.
According to widespread reports, the Villans could be forced to sell a key player before 30 June, which is only ten days away now, to avoid breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
This issue was only exacerbated by the fact Unai Emery’s team missed out on Champions League qualification on the final day, forced to settle for a significantly less lucrative spot in the Europa League.
So, with a claret and blue stalwart or two potentially on their way out of Villa Park, has Emery already identified a dream replacement?
Aston Villa targeting a new striker
With Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio heading back to their parent clubs at the end of their loan spells in the Midlands, Villa clearly need to strengthen their forward line.
Well, according to a report by GIVEMESPORT, Aston Villa are ‘eyeing’ a move to sign £32m Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, should the Senegalese international become available this summer.
It’s revealed that Villa ‘are ready to enter discussions’ over what it would take to tempt the forward away from Stamford Bridge if they decide to transfer-list him.
The Blues have already signed Liam Delap for £30m earlier this summer, also purportedly interested in many other centre-forwards, including, most-notably, Hugo Ekitike, suggesting Jackson could get squeezed out.
Manager Enzo Maresca has always been full of praise for his striker, labelling him “fantastic” and “very important”, but the sheer churn at Chelsea in recent years means no one’s future at Stamford Bridge is ever certain.
So, could he soon be swapping West London for the West Midlands?
How Nicolas Jackson would improve Aston Villa
Aston Villa sold Jhon Durán to Al-Nassr for a reported fee of £71m in January, with Rashford and Asensio ostensibly coming in as the Colombian’s replacements, albeit both only on loan, and it remains to be seen if either will return to Villa Park.
Durán arrived from Chicago Fire for around £16m in January 2023, and was absolutely on fire during the first half of this season, scoring 12 goals in 29 appearances, thereby averaging a goal every 87 minutes, before being flipped for a massive profit, a business model Villa would surely like to replicate going forward.
Neither Rashford nor Asensio favour playing as a central striker, leaving Ollie Watkins as the only player for that position at the club right now, and even he is itching for a move away this summer, according to Football Insider.
Reports suggest Arsenal are still very much interested in Watkins and Villa could be looking to cash in on the 29-year-old to help comply with PSR.
So, would Jackson be a shrewd replacement? Well, let’s assess how the duo compared this season.
Jackson vs Watkins PL 24/25 comparison |
||
---|---|---|
Statistics |
Jackson |
Watkins |
Appearances |
35 |
54 |
Minutes |
2,501 |
3,578 |
Goals |
13 |
17 |
Goals per 90 |
0.49 |
0.44 |
Assists |
6 |
14 |
Shots on target % |
47.5% |
42.6% |
Shot-creating actions per 90 |
2.75 |
2.19 |
Goal-creating actions per 90 |
0.41 |
0.44 |
Big chances missed |
22 |
31 |
Touches per 90 |
28 |
22 |
Average Sofascore rating |
7.07 |
6.88 |
Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, FBref.com and SofaScore |
As the table shows, Watkins and Jackson’s statistics were broadly very similar throughout last season, with the Chelsea striker scoring just four fewer goals in around 1,000 fewer minutes, largely due to the fact he spent around two months on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury between February and April.
The Senegalese star though, did come out on top when it comes to goals-per-90, as well as a higher shots on target percentage and shot-creating actions-per-90, while registering more touches-per-90 and squandering fewer Opta-defined big chances.
Moe Adikwu of Breaking the Lines believes that Jackson has become a ‘proper centre-forward’ at Chelsea, adding that he ‘offers a lot more than his goals’, praising his work-rate, link-up play and ability to hold up the ball while journalist Rahman Osman has praised his “special” ability.
Thus, given that Watkins is 29 and Jackson is 23, if Villa could secure a big fee for the former and then snap up the latter, that would surely be shrewd business for a club operating under tight financial constraints.

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He would take Villa’s frontline to a new level…
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