Report: Aston Villa join Liverpool in race for ‘exceptional’ 17-goal winger

Aston Villa have joined Liverpool and a host of other clubs in taking an interest in signing LASK star Keito Nakamura.

Liverpool will now face a major battle if they want to sign Keito Nakamura with Aston Villa joining the race for his signature.

That is according to The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath, who claim that Villa are in the mix to sign Nakamura.

McGrath notes that Eintracht Frankfurt have made a move to sign Nakamura in an effort to beat the English competition.

Frankfurt are about to lose Japanese star Daichi Kamada and could look to bring in one of his compatriots in Nakamura.

French clubs Lille, Rennes and Lyon are all thought to be keen whilst the interest from England is mounting due to relaxed rules on foreign arrivals.

The Daily Mail claim that Burnley are also interested in Nakamura whilst Borussia Dortmund are very keen.

Their report adds that Borussia Monchengladbach, Reims and Feyenoord are also interested with Nakamura attracting enormous interest.

Who is Aston Villa target Keito Nakamura?

Nakamura emerged with Gamba Osaka in his native Japan, but only made 25 first-team appearances for the club.

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European interest mounted quickly and and Nakamura linked up with FC Twente and then Sint-Truiden on loan.

Another loan to Juniors OÖ in Austria materialised, where five goals in 14 games tempted LASK to pounce for a permanent deal.

The 22-year-old can play as an attacking midfielder or left winger and has been dazzling in Austria.

Nakamura ended this season with 17 goals and eight assists in 36 games for LASK, helping them finish third in Austria’s top flight.

Nakamura’s total record for LASK now stands at 26 goals and nine assists in 68 appearances.

The time may be right for Nakamura to take the next step in his career and he has been hailed as ‘exceptional’ by former LASK boss Dietmar Kuhbauer.

Villa and Liverpool may see him as a Premier League just like compatriot Kaoru Mitoma, but winning this race could be tricky with so many clubs keen.