Real Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi is one of those footballers who does exactly what it says on the tin. A bearded, battlescarred, 6ft 4ins battering ram, the Kosovo internationals plays pretty much precisely how he looks.
“What a signing. Mallorca are a really well-run club but needed strengthening up front. He’s dynamic, he’s pretty quick as well, really powerful. Sensational. (He’s made a) massive impact,” Terry Gibson tells El Tel and Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast of a striker dubbed Mallorca’s ‘signing of the century’ after sealing a club-record £7 million move from Lazio.
“He looks to be a budget version of Erling Haaland!”
Now, Muriqi might lack the explosive speed of Manchester City’s irrepressible Norwegian, in addition to being six years Haaland’s senior. With eight goals in his last 12 games before the World Cup break, however, Muriqi’s current form would give even Haaland a run for his money.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa like Vedat Muriqi of Real Mallorca
“This guy landed on his feet,” Mallorca coach Javier Aguirre tells Diario AS of his brawny, wild-eyed number nine.
“People love him. It is impossible not to love that ugly scoundrel. As big as he is, he has a huge heart.”
Speaking of hearts, a potential move to the Premier League for the one-time Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur target would break plenty of those in Mallorca.
According to Il Messaggero, Aston Villa are weighing up a £17 million offer for a striker who scored once and set up the other during a 2-0 win away at Unai Emery’s former club Villarreal a couple of weeks ago.
Muriqi, compared to Robert Lewandowski during a prolific spell in Turkey, would add a completely different dimension to Aston Villa’s frontline. If Ollie Watkins is all about pace and movement, if Danny Ings is more of a finisher, then Muriqi feels like the very definition of a Plan B.
Aston Villa arguably haven’t had a genuine targetman or aerial presence since returning to the Premier League in 2019. Muriqi, however, would change all that.
Imagine, for a second, that you’re a centre-half holding onto a one-goal lead against Aston Villa. And who comes off the bench but 6ft 4ins Muriqi; a look of ravenous fury in his eyes, like a hungry shark smelling a drop of blood in the ocean.
As Plan Bs go, there are few more fearsome than Muriqi.
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