Aston Villa 'interested' in UEFA record-breaking striker as Wolves 'eye' shock move for West Brom ace
Aston Villa have entered the race to sign a forward that scored five times against them this season
Aston Villa are hoping to sign Olympiacos star Ayoub El Kaabi after his Europa Conference League final heroics. The Moroccan striker netted the winner for the Greek side in the final as they triumphed 1-0 over Italian giants Fiorentina in Athens.
El Kaabi scored the decisive goal deep in extra time to spark pandemonium in the crowd as the Greek side managed by Jose Luis Mendilibar celebrated their first ever European trophy on home soil.
The 30-year-old’s strike also cemented his status in the history books as he became the first player in UEFA history to score 11 goals in the knockout stage of a competition. Aston Villa of course, will be familiar with El Kaabi’s abilities from the two times they faced the forward in the competition.
El Kaab notably netted a double in a shock 2-0 victory against the West Midlands outfit at Villa Park and repeated the trick in even more comprehensive fashion in the return leg as he scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 home victory. Overall, the forward has bagged 34 times in all competitions - with a further five European goals also coming in the Europa League group stage.
El Kaab's ability to perform on the European stage could prove vital to the Villains' chances of progressing from the Champions League group stage as they compete in the competition for the first time since 1983. VillaNews understands that there is clear interest in the striker who has scored 22 times in 33 games at international level.
Wolves tipped to make shock move for seven-goal West Brom star
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves are planning a stunning move to sign Grady Diangana from their arch-rivals West Brom, according to reports from Africa Foot. Diangana has been with West Brom since 2019 having joined on loan initially. He turned his move to Albion permanent in the summer of 2020.
Since arriving at the Hawthorns he has experienced one promotion, one relegation and has an overall record 23 goals and 18 assists in 160 league games.
This season was one of his most successful and he helped the Baggies reach the play-offs with seven goals and eight assists. He is about to enter the final year of his contract at the club, meaning there is a chance that someone could look to snap him up on a free transfer.
Diangana is renowned for being a strong dribbler and has a take-on success rate of 47.1% last season, but is yet to prove himself in the top-flight managing just one goal in 20 appearances last time around.