Aston Villa risk repeating a common mistake of signings underwhelming strikers if they bring Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos to Villa Park.
What is the story on Aston Villa’s interest in Morelos?
Turkish outlet Takvim have reported that Villa are to compete with Galatasaray for the 26-year-old’s signature, with the forward out of contract at Ibrox this summer.
The piece suggests the Colombian is set to be in high demand despite Rangers boss, and former Villa assistant manager, Michael Beale publicly crticising him in a press conference just a few weeks ago.
Beale said: ”
He’s been at the club for a long time and I need to see a little bit more from Alfredo day in, day out.”
This came just a few months after Morelos’ performance in the Old Firm draw with Celtic was described as “sluggish, slow and ineffective” by journalist Jason Soutar.
Why is Morelos such a risk for Aston Villa?
Over the last few years, Aston Villa have signed a number of strikers, with little or no Premier League experience, who have failed to live up to expectations.
Wesley and Mbwana Samatta are just two examples of players bought in who have struggled to find the back of the net.
Wesley arrived from Belgian side Club Brugge in the summer of 2019 with a promising goalscoring record of ten goals and nine assists in 28 league appearances for the Belgian side in the previous season, and was expected to provide the firepower that Villa needed to stay in the Premier League.
However, he struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game and managed just five goals in 26 league appearances before suffering a long-term injury.
Samatta arrived from Genk in January 2020 with a similarly promising reputation. He had scored 20 goals in 28 league the previous season in the Belgian league and was expected to provide much-needed competition for Wesley.
However, he also failed to make an impact and managed just one goal in 14 league appearances before being loaned out to Fenerbahçe.
Morelos has a fine record of providing goals in Scotland, including 15 goal contributions in 26 games this season, but, at 26-years-old, has no experience at the top level and has been at the centre of a number of controversies during his time in Glasgow.
With the Midlands outfit recently linked with Tammy Abraham, who had a successful loan spell at Villa Park in the 2018/19 season and would provide a far more sensible option than Morelos, lessons should be learnt from recent striking additions without Premier League or top-level experience.
Abraham boasted a very respectable return of goals for Chelsea in the top-flight Champions League and domestic cups and recorded 26 goals in all competitions in his first season in Italy at Roma last season.
Villa sporting director Johan Lange must avoid another gamble on an unproven forward, and bring experienced and reliable finisher Tammy Abraham back to the Premier League.