Report: Aston Villa target Neal Maupay could cost over £15.8m

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Aston Villa reportedly want to sign Neal Maupay, but may need to break a Championship record to get him this month.

According to a report from the London Evening Standard, Aston Villa will need to be prepared to break the Championship record and spend over £15.8 million to sign Neal Maupay from Brentford.

Dean Smith is apparently considering strengthening his striker options this month as Villa look to get themselves back into promotion contention, and Maupay is the man that he has his eye on if he is able to sign a new goalscorer.

But the Evening Standard reports that their Championship rivals value the Frenchman much higher than Scott Hogan who they sold to Villa for £12 million.

In fact, the Evening Standard suggests that the Bees are ready to hold out for a fee that would set a new record in the second tier – with the current record move proving to be the £15.8 million deal that saw Ruben Neves head to Wolves in 2017.

The Daily Mirror reports that Financial Fair Play could prove to be a concern for Villa, so it would seemingly appear that signing Maupay may perhaps be off the table for this window at least.

Even if Villa have no serious worries about coming that close to breaching the FFP regulations, it would surprise a lot of people if they were in a situation to be able to meet Brentford’s asking price for the forward.

He has enjoyed a stunning season so far. But with much more pressing concerns in other areas of the squad right now, perhaps breaking the record to sign 15-goal Maupay is not a priority.