An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their pursuit of a deal to sign Nico Williams in the summer transfer window…
What’s the latest on Aston Villa’s interest in Nico Williams?
According to the Daily Mail, Villans boss Unai Emery is desperate to add a tall, athletic, winger to bolster his squad and is determined to sign the Athletic Bilbao attacker to fill that role.
The report claims that the Spanish international rejected the chance to sign for the Villans in January as he did not want to depart from his current club midway through the campaign.
It is stated that the Midlands outfit are unlikely to be put off by the winter rejection and are set to revive their interest in the Bilbao gem, who has a £50m release clause, heading into the summer.
Nico Williams is Wilfried Zaha 2.0
Emery could land his own version of Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha for Villa by securing a deal to sign the forward he is ‘desperate’ to sign – Williams.
The current Premier League winger, who plays for Patrick Vieira’s side, has been a consistent performer over the years to keep the Eagles in the top-flight.
Since the start of the 2016/17 campaign, the forward has hit double figures for goals and assists combined in five of his six full league seasons, whilst the gem is already on eight this term.
Zaha has scored ten or more goals in three of the last four full Premier League campaigns and proven himself to be a reliable goalscorer and creator from a wide position for Palace.
FBref lists the Ivorian international as one of the most similar players to the Bilbao star based on their respective statistics over the last 365 days, with both players ranking in the top 30% of wingers in Europe for take-ons completed and touches in the opposition’s box per 90 – showing that they are both direct forward who want to make things happen in the final third.
This season, Williams (5.8) and Zaha (5.7) have accrued similar xG numbers – combined non-penalty xG and xAG – and this suggests that they provide a similar level of threat in the final third, in terms of the positions they take up to score for themselves and the quality of chances they create for others, which is reflected in the xG and xAG (the quality of chances they shoot from and create) numbers, via FBref.
The Spanish forward, 20, has not proven himself over the course of a number of seasons but his return of six goals and six assists in 25 appearances for Bilbao this season shows that the gem is on the right path to becoming Zaha 2.0.
Williams, who was described as being “on fire” by scout Jacek Kulig earlier this term, could be Villa’s own version of the Palace star by coming in and regularly delivering goals and assists, whilst also being direct and a constant attacking threat in the opposition box, if he can adapt to Premier League football and remain consistent with his end product.