Aston Villa were the most improved team in European football last season, finishing fourth in the Premier League and qualifying for next year’s Champions League.
As rumors swirl of unfair restrictions from the Premier League potentially hampering the Lions, the train keeps moving for Aston Villa and their ambitions of showing that they can compete with the big boys in the Champions League.
To that end, Aston Villa are monitoring some of European football’s finest breakout stars at all levels of the squad, and the latest link takes them to a player who could pair nicely with Premier League Player of the Season contender Ollie Watkins.
According to a report from Florian Plettenberg, Aston Villa have joined fellow top-four contenders Chelsea with “concrete interest” in Hoffenheim striker Maximilian Beier.
The 21-year-old standout was one of the biggest breakout stars and most productive attackers in the entire Bundesliga last season, scoring 16 goals with 2 combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game.
Beier has a 30 million euro release clause, per Plettenberg, which is an excellent deal for Aston Villa and could provide them with a borderline world-class attacker over the next few years if the German international’s development progresses as planned.
Together with Hoffenheim legend Andrej Kramaric, Beier formed a dominant duo in the Bundesliga, and he could do the same with Watkins next season with 19 goals and 13 assists from the England international at striker for Aston Villa.
Chelsea may not be as good of a fit for Beier, since Aston Villa can offer Watkins to work in tandem with Beier. Furthermore, the Blues don’t have the advantage of the Champions League, so Villa could further appeal to the German forward.
