Aston Villa’s interest in Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson has left the City Ground outfit concerned, according to reports from The Athletic.
Who are Villa signing in 2023?
Villa are sure to be one of the busiest clubs in the summer transfer market, kick starting their business early by locking up an agreement with Leicester City star turned free agent Youri Tielemans.
The Villans hierarchy, NSWE, were reported earlier this year to be gearing up to hand Unai Emery a “huge” summer budget, and they have also delivered him a helping hand in the market by bringing in renowned transfer guru Monchi, who helped transform Sevilla from a relegated side in 2000 to one of Europe’s dominant forces, winning the Europa league twice during his tenure.
Of course, the Midlands outfit will be hoping the Spanish duo can repeat some of that magic on the continental stage this year in the Europa Conference League, but that competition also brings increased pressure to improve the depth and quality available throughout the squad.
The priority after the capture of Tielemans seems to be a wide player who can add pace and goals, with links to the likes of Harvey Barnes and Wilfried Gnonto, and attention has now turned to Brennan Johnson.
According to a report from The Athletic detailing the Reds’ summer business and transfer plans, the City Ground hierarchy are growing concerned about the interest in their talisman, namely from Villa.
NSWE, Emery and Monchi are very keen to bring the Wales international across the Midlands and this has become a “genuine concern” for those in situ at Forest.
They are not actively seeking to cash in on their star man, but given he has risen up through the ranks from their academy they are aware they could generate a massive profit from his sale and potentially land themselves in a good position when it comes to Financial Fair Play.
That said, they have already rejected a £30m offer from Brentford, so it seems Villa would have to really test their resolve with an impressive offer.
How many goals has Brennan Johnson scored?
The 22 year-old, labelled “fantastic” by Cooper, scored eight times in the Premier League last season and also provided three assists, an impressive return in a team who scraped clear of relegation and largely struggled to create chances and score goals.
However, delving deeper into his numbers suggests he may not be worth splashing a large portion of the summer budget on. According to FBRef’s metrics, which compares players with their positional peers across the top five European leagues, Johnson was in the bottom half of players for every single statistic they measure – except aerial duels, where he was 59th percentile.
He measured in the bottom one per cent for shot creating actions, which suggests he struggles to make chances out of nothing either for himself or his teammates, and also ranked poorly in tackles and interceptions, painting the picture of a player who won’t provide much pressing and defensive cover from the front.
If Emery is desperate to land a direct winger who can score and create goals but also help his team out of possession, especially in tough European games, Johnson is not the one.