Aston Villa ‘want’ former Real Madrid striker who has also been strongly linked with West Ham & Newcastle

Aston Villa are battling to sign Espanyol and Spain international striker Raúl de Tomás, according to reports.

The 27-year-old, who started his career with Real Madrid, has been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League summer with Newcastle United and West Ham United both expressing interest.

It now appears as though Villa have entered the race too with transfer specialist Ekrem Konur stating that the claret and blue ‘want’ the forward via his Twitter profile.

The striker department has been an ongoing issue for the claret and blue since Steven Gerrard arrived at the helm with no player being able to truly cement themselves as first choice.

Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings have both been deployed as the lone forward on occasion whilst the two have also played as a pair - a system that has done OK but still hasn’t stuck.

Cameron Archer has also played his way into the first team reckoning for this season though with little top-flight experience under his belt, isn’t being relied on just yet.

De Tomas, if signed, could hopefully go a long way to solving the never ending conundrum they seem to have up the top end of the pitch at Villa Park.

He’s proved lethal since joining Espanyol in 2020, scoring 45 goals in 89 appearances.

It’s believed he would cost around £20million to land his signature before the transfer window shuts on September 1.