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Aston Villa recorded an extraordinary 15th straight win at home in the Premier League as they beat Arsenal 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.
John McGinn’s goal was enough to seal all three points for the hosts, who are now third in the table and two points off Liverpool in first place.
Unai Emery‘s side are also top of the Europa Conference League group ahead of their final group stage match on Thursday, and will progress through to the knockout stages in 2024.
The Spanish head coach has been a terrific appointment by the club so far and Villa supporters will be hoping there is more to come from him, particularly in the transfer market alongside Monchi – who arrived over the summer.
Sevilla’s former sporting director could work with Emery in the upcoming January transfer window to make further additions to the first-team squad to boost their pursuit of Champions League football for next season.
Aston Villa transfer news – Alex Baena
One player who has been touted with a possible move to Villa Park ahead of the second half of the 2023/24 campaign is Villarreal attacking midfielder Alex Baena.
90min recently reported that the Villans are ‘increasingly’ interested in a deal to sign the 22-year-old magician to improve their midfield options.
The outlet claimed that the club are now considering a swoop to sign the talented gem in January after being told to keep an eye on him by Emery.
Villa’s boss handed Baena his first-team debut at Villarreal and urged his scouts to keep close tabs on the Spanish whiz’s performances over the last 12 months or so.
The Villans have been impressed by what they have seen and that could now lead to a move to England in January if they are able to agree a deal for his services.
It was also added that sporting director Monchi has been given the go-ahead to go out and recruit players to improve their chances of landing a top four spot at the end of the season.
Baena has a £51m release clause in his current contract with Villarreal and any interested club is likely to need to pay that in order to win the race for his signature, amid interest from Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal.
Monchi could now land Emery his own version of Gunners captain and star Martin Odegaard by beating the aforementioned Premier League giants to the Spain international next month.
Why Alex Baena is similar to Martin Odegaard
As per FBref, Odegaard is one of the most similar players to Baena based on their statistics in the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions over the last year – alongside the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan – who both won the Premier League last season.
Most similar players to Baena in Men’s Big Five Leagues over the past 365 days |
|
---|---|
Player |
Rank |
Ilkay Gundogan |
5 |
Teun Koopmeiners |
4 |
Viktor Tsyhankov |
3 |
Kevin de Bruyne |
2 |
Martin Odegaard |
1 |
As you can see from the table above, the Villarreal whiz is in great company and this shows how impressive he has been over the last 365 days for his club.
Baena, like Odegaard, is a creative talent who is mainly deployed as an attacking midfielder and has the quality to consistently find ways to open up the opposition’s defence with his inventive and incisive play.
Odegaard’s season in numbers
The Arsenal maestro has been in impressive form once again for Mikel Arteta’s side in the Premier League so far this season with his magical displays.
He has racked up four goals, two assists, and five ‘big chances’ created in 13 top-flight appearances, to go along with two goals in four Champions League outings.
Odegaard has provided his teammates with 2.2 key passes per game in the league this term, whilst no Aston Villa player has managed more than 1.8 per match.
The Norway international also ranks within the top 6% of his positional peers for Expected Assisted Goals (0.21) per 90 in the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days.
He is also within the top 2% for shot-creating actions (4.72) per 90 during that period and these statistics show that the left-footed whiz is a terrific creator who has been one of the best in Europe at unlocking opposition defences on a regular basis.
Odegaard ranked within the top 13% or higher of attacking midfielders for assists (0.20), shot-creating actions (4.69), xAG (0.23), and progressive passes (7.66) per 90 in the Premier League last season.
The statistics that show why Baena could be Odegaard 2.0
Baena, meanwhile, has caught the eye with his superb performances for Villarreal since the start of last season and could come in as Emery’s own version of the Arsenal dynamo.
The 22-year-old wizard contributed with one goal, five assists, and seven ‘big chances’ created in 14 LaLiga appearances during the 2023/24 campaign, to go along with 2.4 key passes per game.
22/23 LaLiga |
Alex Baena (via Sofascore) |
---|---|
Appearances |
35 |
Starts |
19 |
Goals |
Six |
Assists |
Two |
Big chances created |
12 |
This shows that, like Odegaard, the Spanish gem has the ability to create opportunities for his teammates at an impressive rate, and one that no current Villa player has been able to match.
Baena also ranks within the top 5% or higher of his positional peers across the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days for xAG (0.26), assists (0.28), and shot-creating actions (4.46) per 90.
These statistics show that the £51m-rated whiz, who was once lauded as a “beautiful” technician by journalist Josh Bunting, is similar to Odegaard in terms of the quality of chances that he is able to create from a midfield position.
In fact, Baena ranks within the top 3% of midfielders in LaLiga this season for shot-creating actions (5.01) and assists (0.42) per 90, which illustrates how impressive his performances have been this term.
Therefore, Monchi could sign Emery’s own version of Odegaard for Villa by bringing him to the club in January due to his sublime creative qualities that could make him a standout in the middle of the park during the second half of the season and beyond.
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