The 2024/25 season will be an exciting adventure for Aston Villa. They will return to the Champions League for the first time in over 40 years, last playing with Europe’s elite in the 1982/83 season. In that campaign, they were the defending champions, having lifted the European Cup in 1981/82.
Indeed, it will be the first foray into the Champions League for many of Villa’s squad members. Whilst the likes of Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby have already played in the prestigious competition, it will be a new experience for stars such as Ollie Watkins and John McGinn.
Their manager, Unai Emery, is an experienced manager in Europe, so they will not be led blindly into the competition. He has managed 53 games in the Champions League, winning 20 of those, drawing 11 and losing 34 times. He is also a serial winner in the Europa League, having won it three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.
Villa may well decide to turn to the transfer market to add some Champions League pedigree to their squad ahead of their exciting European journey next term. They have been linked with one player who would bring just that, given he is a former winner of the tournament.
Villa target Champions League level talent
The player in question here is AS Roma and England striker Tammy Abraham. The Chelsea academy graduate is a past winner of the Champions League and has been linked with a move back to Villa Park, having previously been on loan at the club.
At least, this is according to Football Insider. Abraham “ticks a lot of boxes” for Villa, with both parties viewing a potential return to Villa Park as an “appealing prospect”.
However, Villa are not thought to be the only Premier League club interested in signing Abraham over the summer transfer window. According to talkSPORT, North Londoners Tottenham Hotspur are thought to be keen on a move, too. This would be a move that sees Abraham join one of his former club Chelsea’s biggest rivals.
With regards to a price, Roma would reportedly look for around £26m for Abraham from Spurs this summer. Thus, it seems safe to assume that Villa would have to pay a similar fee. Should the deal for Abraham go through for that price, it would see Roma make a considerable loss on the £34m they spent on him in 2021.
What Abraham can bring to Villa
Sadly, Abraham has not played much football during the 2023/24 season, due to picking up an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the final game of Roma’s 2022/23 campaign. That has kept him out for the majority of last term, but he made his return from injury on the 6th April, during a 1-0 derby victory over Lazio.
In total last season, the 26-year-old played eight times in Serie A, where he scored one goal against Napoli, and registered one assist, which came against Europa League winners Atalanta. In Europe, he played four times but did not get on the scoresheet.
There is no doubting Abraham’s quality, despite his injury which kept him sidelined for so long. Football talent scout Jacek Kulig described him as a “superb centre-forward” in 2021, and his record for Roma shows why. He has scored 37 times for the club, as well as registering 13 assists in 119 games, just over a goal involvement every two games.
With Villa entering the Champions League for the first time in 40 years next season, bringing in a striker with a pedigree in the competition such as Abraham’s could be a smart move. He was part of the Chelsea side that won the competition in 2020/21, and he played a major part in that season. His record in the competition speaks for itself.
2019/20
8
568
3
1
2020/21
5
232
1
2
Total
13
800
4
3
Abraham has proven quality in the Champions League, which could be really key to helping Villa qualify out of the new-look format.
Having the English international and countryman Watkins at his disposal to lead the line would be a luxury of riches for Emery.
The Roma man would bring goals to this Villa squad, and whilst they were not necessarily short of that last season, you can never score too much.
He is proven in the Premier League, with 26 goals in the top flight in England, experienced winning Europe's premier competition and is adored by the Villa fans. The striker was part of the promotion-winning side in 2018/19, a season where he scored 26 goals in 40 games. Perhaps it will not be long before we see him back scoring in the famous claret and blue shirt.
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