Aston Villa are "going to be very busy this summer" as they target Stade Rennais winger Jérémy Doku, claims Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol.
Is Jérémy Doku joining Aston Villa this summer?
It has been a wild nine months for Villa since the appointment of Spanish tactician Unai Emery as manager. The club went from a relegation scrap to a different scrap altogether, one for European football.
With their qualification for the Conference League secure and spirits high, the West Midlands outfit have been on something of a spending spree of late.
First came Leicester City's highly rated Youri Tielemans on a free, before Villarreal's Pau Torres arrived for a fee of £31.5m. Most recently, the Villans have announced the arrival of exciting French winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for a club-record fee in the region of £52m.
If that were the end of the club's business this summer, it would be hard to argue that it wasn't fantastic as it is.
However, the Claret and Blue aren't finished just yet, as they look set to target Belgian prospect Jeremy Doku.
Solhekol explained the situation live on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"According to reports in France as well, Aston Villa are targeting another winger, the Rennes winger Jérémy Doku. So Villa appear as if they're going to be very busy this summer.
"Unai Emery [is] really working to strengthen his squad."
How good is Jérémy Doku?
Having spent his short career exclusively in the Belgian and French leagues so far, fans in England could be forgiven for not knowing much about the exciting 21-year-old. However, given the potential people think he possesses, it might not be long until everyone knows his name.
This potential led to GOAL placing him in 14th place on their list of the top 50 wonderkids in world football back in 2021, ahead of the likes of Chelsea's promising winger Noni Madueke. And unlike so many 'wonderkids' before him, Doku has been slowly progressing and improving his game in the years since his nomination.
Last season he made 29 Ligue 1 appearances for Rennais, scoring six goals, providing two assists and maintaining a passing accuracy of 86.4%, which was enough for him to average a seriously impressive match rating of 7.08 – the fourth-best in the entire squad – per WhoScored.
Where he shines, however, and gives us a glimpse of just how exceptional a talent he really is, are his underlying numbers.
According to FBref, which compares players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, Doku sits in the top 1% for Non-Penalty Goals, expected assists, shot-creating actions, progressive carries, successful take-ons, touches in the opposition's penalty area and progressive passes received per 90.
Alongside his frankly outrageous raw numbers, he has also received praise from one of the best footballers on the planet, Kylian Mbappe, who, back in 2021, said:
"Recently, I was speaking with my father about a player who impressed me because of his speed qualities, that is Doku, at Rennes. In five years as a professional, I have never seen someone from a standing start demonstrate so much power."
Even Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has given his opinion on the dynamic winger, saying:
"He's agile, fast and he knows how to dribble. Sure, he sometimes makes a mistake, but who doesn't? It is a diamond in the rough."
If Villa can get this deal over the line and find a way to play him with Diaby, they could be fighting for more than just European football come the end of next season.
