Aston Villa have had some troubles in the attacking third of the pitch so far in the current Premier League campaign.
After nine league games, the Villans have only netted seven goals, leaving Wolves (three) as the only team in the division to score fewer.
One man in Steven Gerrard’s squad who has not been particularly potent in front of goal so far this season is Danny Ings, who has only directed three of his nine shots at goal on target.
Bearing in mind how the Midlands club have shown how active they can be in the transfer market in terms of bringing new players to Villa Park, the upcoming January window could give the Villans the chance to add some extra firepower to their ranks and potentially add a much-needed spark to their team.
One man for whom club have been linked with a January move is Lyon striker Moussa Dembele, who we feel would give Gerrard an upgrade on Ings.
Having made 151 appearances for the Ligue 1 club across all competitions, the 26-year-old has scored 69 goals and delivered 18 assists in the process, leaving him with 139 goals to his name in total throughout his senior club career.
In terms of being an upgrade on Ings, the duo’s respective 2021/22 domestic campaigns show how much of an improvement Dembele could be on the Englishman.
For example, the Lyon star racked up a better percentage of shots on target last season than Ings (44% vs 35.4%) and also had a higher rate of shot-creating actions per 90 minutes than the 30-year-old (2.65 vs 1.47).
With a higher dribbling success rate (55.1% vs 31.4%) than the current Villa marksman, this further highlights just how much of an attacking threat Dembele can offer.
Hailed as a “deadly” player by journalist Richard Fay, the 26-year-old is surely a player that Johan Lange should try his hardest to bring to Villa Park in January, as the Frenchman has shown that his attacking credentials could be just what Gerrard needs in his team.
