Aston Villa linked with move for Alex Teixeira
Jack Grealish has had a hand in 16 goals from 18 games, Bertrand Traore has contributed seven in 17 games and Anwar El Ghazi has scored six in 14 (Transfermarkt), so Dean Smith’s wide men are firing on all cylinders for Aston Villa this season.
Trezeguet only has two assists from 11, however, and Fichajes reported that the Claret and Blues might have a potential replacement lined up in Alex Teixeira. The 31-year-old left Jiangsu Suning in January and is available on a free transfer.
Teixeira spent five years in the Chinese Super League after leaving Shakhtar Donetsk for €50m (£44.4m) in 2016, scoring 73 goals and providing 43 assists in 153 games. A return to Europe might be on the cards and Fichajes claimed that Villa, Benfica and Shakhtar are interested.
In his heyday, the Brazilian forward won five Ukrainian Premier League titles, three Ukrainian Cups and four Ukrainian Super Cups with Shakhtar, scoring 11 Champions League goals as well. He continued to thrive in China too, but it remains to be seen if Villa will procure his signature.
READ ASTON VILLA VERDICT
Although Teixeira is available on a free transfer, he is 31 years of age and was earning an eye-watering €210,000-a-week (around £186,500) in China.
Also, he may struggle to adapt to the Premier League given his five years outside of Europe, so there might be more suitable attacking options out there for Smith to pursue.