Aston Villa have been linked with Middlesbrough striker Britt Assombalonga.
Aston Villa have suffered a massive blow to their hopes of survival, with two players now set to miss the rest of the season.
Goalkeeper Tom Heaton and striker Wesley have both suffered major knee injuries, and are unlikely to play again this term – just weeks after John McGinn picked up a big injury too.
Dean Smith has strengthened with the signing of midfielder Danny Drinkwater, but a new goalkeeper and striker must be brought in.
On Sunday, TEAMtalk reported that Smith wanted to solve those issues by targeting two players from Middlesbrough; Darren Randolph and Britt Assombalonga.
Randolph looks set to re-join West Ham United, but what about Assombalonga? Well, The Northern Echo today claim that Villa are set to step up their pursuit of Assombalonga, identifying him as a top choice to replace Wesley.
Assombalonga, 27, hit 29 goals in his first two seasons at Boro, but has only managed six goals in 20 games so far this season, with Jonathan Woodgate yet to really get the best out of him.
Assombalonga has been prolific in the Championship for years now, but has never been given a Premier League chance – and Villa fans seemingly aren’t hoping it comes at Villa Park.
Fans have taken to Twitter to react to the rumours, believing that Assombalonga is ‘awful’ and ‘terrible’, branding him a Championship player.
The general consensus is that Assombalonga just isn’t good enough, and some doubt that boss Smith would have even put forward the DR Congo international as a target.
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