At the beginning of the season, not many punters would have predicted Aston Villa to be ahead of the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal or Manchester United, but that's the reality of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
The Midlands club are flying at the moment and have found themselves locked in an early title race with league leaders Liverpool and European champions Man City. However, even the staunchest of Villa supporters would admit that their squad is punching above its weight at the moment.
20
13
6
1
45
25
20
13
3
4
42
16
19
12
4
3
40
24
20
12
4
4
40
17
Nevertheless, the January transfer window offers Unai Emery the chance to strengthen his starting lineup ahead of the second half of the season.
Aston Villa transfer news – Nico Williams
According to the latest reports, Aston Villa are keen to battle it out with Serie A club Fiorentina for Hellas Verona's Cyril Ngonge before the deadline passes at the beginning of February. The Belgian moved to Verona last January and scored ten goals for I Gialloblu in 2023, finishing the calendar year as Verona's top goalscorer in all competitions, but is now being linked with a move to pastures new.
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Regardless, if Villa fail in their pursuit to sign the 23-year-old, there is one other option that Emery could explore once more. It was reported by Spanish outlet Sport back in October that the Villans were interested in making a move for Athletic Club attacker Nico Williams once the winter window opened and had even decided to activate his £43m release clause.
To ward off interest from the likes of Villa, Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Basque club handed the Spain international a new four-year deal, keeping him at the San Mames until 2027 at the earliest. However, Williams' release clause figure remained untouched, meaning Villa could still trigger this before the January window closes.
Nico Williams' stats comparison vs Cyril Ngonge
One of Emery's conundrums this season has been who to partner star striker Ollie Watkins with. The England international has had a fine season leading the line for the Midlands club, having scored 14 goals and registered eight assists in 27 matches in all competitions under Emery.
Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey have primarily occupied the spot behind the striker. Apart from Watkins, Bailey has been Aston Villa's most successful attacking player this season and has bagged 16 goal contributions in total, including nine goals and seven assists. However, the Jamaican's best position has been on the right wing where he has scored six goals and recorded four assists for Villa this term.
Meanwhile, Diaby has done reasonably well in his debut campaign, scoring five times and creating four goals. The Frenchman's biggest issue has been his consistency. Across his last eight matches, the £52m summer signing has produced one goal and one assist.
As a result, Emery is looking to sign Ngonge this month to add more quality on the flanks since Bailey has consistently been tasked with playing in a more central role due to Diaby's struggles. Ngonge is a much cheaper alternative to Williams, given he could be available for a reported £8.7m, but you get what you pay for and Williams is far superior to the Villa target when comparing the duo's statistics from the 2023/24 campaign.
Goals
0.31
0.33
Expected Goals
0.27
0.28
Assists
0.38
0.13
Expected Assists
0.36
0.11
Key Passes
2.48
1.44
Passes To Penalty Area
2.02
0.79
Crosses
7.08
3.2
Crosses To Penalty Area
1.16
0.5
Progressive Passes Received
11
7.27
Progressive Carries
5.81
3.24
Stats via FBref
Ngonge is more of a goalscoring player than Williams, as the stats proved, but the latter is far more creative and would be a dream for Watkins, who has already exceeded expectations in front of goal. Five of Watkins' goals this season have come from headers and with Williams out wide, constantly whipping in dangerous balls, this figure will likely rise.
Williams is still quite raw, hence why his brother Inaki described him as a "rough diamond", but he certainly has the potential to become a world-beater at the right club.