Aston Villa prepare offer to sign 25-goal striker

Aston Villa centre-forward Ollie Watkins scored in England’s final warm-up friendly ahead of the World Cup with a close-range header against Costa Rice earlier this week.

The Villans marksman faces the tough task of getting ahead of captain and record scorer Harry Kane to get minutes at the tournament, but could come off the bench to make an impact.

Watkins ended the 2025/26 campaign in a rich vein of form for Villa with six goals in the last five matches of the season in all competitions.

The 30-year-old number nine finished the term with 21 goals in 55 appearances in all competitions for Unai Emery‘s side, just shy of one goal every other game on average.

His return of 16 goals in the Premier League marked a fourth successive season with 15 or more goals in the division, illustrating his impressive consistency in front of goal.

Aston Villa preparing move for Premier League centre-forward

The experienced forward has been a terrific servant for the club over the years, particularly in the Premier League, but they may have to start to think about what life after him looks like as he enters his 30s.

Now, the club are reportedly eyeing up a striker from one of their rivals who could arrive at Villa Park as an even better option than Watkins at the top end of the pitch.

According to SportsBoom, Aston Villa are one of the teams interested in a deal to sign Brentford centre-forward Igor Thiago in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that they are preparing an ‘ambitious’ swoop to bring the Brazil international to Villa Park to bolster Emery’s attacking options ahead of next season, with a bid seemingly in the offing for his services.

It adds that the Bees marksman has emerged as a leading target for the Spanish head coach, who wants to add more goals to his team for the Champions League next term.

However, SportsBoom does not reveal how much Brentford are set to demand for the striker, two years after they paid Club Brugge £30m to bring him over to the Premier League.

How Igor Thiago would be an upgrade on Ollie Watkins for Aston Villa

Despite Watkins’ impressive goalscoring record for Villa this season, Thiago could come in as an even better striker for Emery after his eye-catching performances in England for the Bees.

After only playing eight times in the division in the 2024/25 campaign due to injury, this term was essentially his first taste of English football and he hit the ground running.

Thiago racked up an exceptional return of 22 goals in 38 appearances in the Premier League for Brentford, a tally only Erling Haaland (27) managed to beat to win the Golden Boot.

The £30m striker scored six more goals than Watkins, whilst outperforming his xG 1.43, and he created two more ‘big chances’ for his teammates in the top-flight.

Thiago, who scored 25 goals in all competitions for the Bees, could offer a greater threat at the top end of the pitch than the England international, as he may score goals and provide more clinical finishing, along with being even more creative for his teammates.

Watkins has never scored more than 19 goals in a season in the Premier League in his career and the Brazilian star managed it in what was, essentially, his first proper campaign in the division, which speaks to the quality that he could bring to Villa Park.

At the age of 24, he is also six years younger than the English frontman and would be a terrific long-term replacement for Emery’s side, as a striker has the potential to offer consistency and quality in front of goal for many years to come.

On top of his outstanding technical qualities as a goalscorer, Thiago is also a physical presence who can hold the ball up and win duels with defenders in a way that Watkins sometimes struggles with, as evidenced by their respective number of duels won.

Therefore, Villa could improve their starting line-up for the Champions League next term by signing the Brentford star to take Watkins’ place, due to his goalscoring and physical qualities in the number nine role.