Aston Villa want Enner Valencia and are opening talks to try and sign the Fenerbahce striker at the end of the season.
That’s according to The Sunday Mirror (12/02, p73), who claim that Villa are pushing to sign Valencia on a free transfer.
It’s claimed that boss Unai Emery is a big fan of Valencia and now wants to bring him to Villa Park in the next transfer window.
Valencia is out of contract at Fenerbahce this summer and Villa are seemingly pushing to get him tied up now, possibly to a pre-contract agreement.
Villa are allegedly offering Valencia a one-year deal with the option of a second year, though Barcelona are also thought to be interested.
Emery allowed Danny Ings to leave for West Ham United in January and whilst youngster Jhon Duran has arrived, Villa may now go for a veteran striker in Valencia.
Who is Aston Villa target Enner Valencia?
Valencia started his career with Emelec in his native Ecuador before heading to Mexico with Pachuca.
Valencia really rose to prominence at the 2014 World Cup, scoring three times in three group stage games for Ecuador.
That earned Valencia a move to West Ham United, where he couldn’t quite recapture that form as he scored just 10 goals in 68 games.
After a fairly uneventful loan spell with Everton in the 2016-17 season, Valencia headed back to Mexico with Tigres UANL, scoring 34 times in 118 outings.
Fenerbahce saw enough to bring him back to Europe in 2020, and that move has been pretty inspired.
After 26 goals in his first two seasons, Valencia has now smashed 20 goals in just 18 league games this term for Fenerbahce.
Valencia even took his goalscoring exploits to the World Cup in Qatar, again scoring three goals for Ecuador.
Now 33, Valencia is enjoying a real purple patch this season and his form could see him make a shock Premier League return with Villa.
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