After a disappointing end to last season, Aston Villa have really stepped up this year.
Unai Emery has his side playing some of the most entertaining football in the country, flying high in the Europa League and in a genuine Premier League title race.
Moreover, the board appear intent on doing what they can to help the manager in the transfer market this month.
In fact, if reports are to be believed, Aston Villa have identified a hugely exciting target who could be an even better signing than Conor Gallagher.
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It’s shaping up to be a busy January for Villa, with a flurry of reports heavily linking them with Tammy Abraham and confirmation from Fabrizio Romano that Donyell Malen is on his way to AS Roma.
However, the most frustrating mini-saga for the Villans has been the one involving Gallagher.
At one point, the West Midlanders were said to be very interested in him, but then a few days later, it was confirmed that he’d be joining Tottenham Hotspur.
Now, losing out on a transfer target is never ideal, but fans shouldn’t fret as it now looks like the club could be moving towards another, better signing.
At least that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims Aston Villa are interested in Allan.
In fact, the report has revealed that the Villans have already made contact with Palmeiras over the exciting midfielder, as have Napoli and Newcastle United.
However, the main obstacle to this deal being completed is a supposed ‘anti-European club’ clause in its contract, which is valued at a whopping €100m, which is about £87m.
Now, while it feels almost guaranteed that the 21-year-old will eventually leave the Brazilian side, it’ll be for less than that; he’ll still almost certainly cost a lot of money.
Even so, Villa should do what they can to bring him to Birmingham as he looks like a superstar in the making, and could be a far better signing than Gallagher.
Why Allan would be a better signing than Gallagher
The first thing to say is that yes, there is perhaps slightly more risk in signing a player from the Brazilian league, but from how well he has performed there to the level of teams interested in him, it certainly looks like Allan is destined to be a star.
With that said, when it comes to him potentially being a better signing than Gallagher for Villa, there are a few reasons, the first of which is the fact that he is a little more attacking.
Sure, like the Englishman, he can and often does play in central midfield, but he’s also shown a real ability to play further up the pitch and out wide, both on the wings and in midfield.
In other words, should Emery want, he could mould the youngster into a more offensively minded midfield option, while retaining an element of versatility.
The second reason he’d be a better signing is that when you take a look under the hood, at their underlying numbers, he comes out on top, and by quite some distance.
For example, these include metrics such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots on target, key passes, passes into the penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, successful take-ons, and more, all per 90.
However, it’s not just the attacking statistics that shine for the Brazilian, with him also coming out on top in things like tackles, tackles won, and clearances per 90.
|
Allan vs Gallagher |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics per 90 |
Allan |
Gallagher |
|
Non-Penalty Expected G+As |
0.22 |
0.21 |
|
Progressive Passes |
2.25 |
3.47 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.65 |
2.53 |
|
Shots on Target |
0.88 |
0.66 |
|
Key Passes |
1.18 |
0.53 |
|
Passes into the Penalty Area |
0.59 |
0.40 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
4.01 |
1.86 |
|
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.49 |
0.13 |
|
Tackles |
2.75 |
2.27 |
|
Tackles Won |
1.76 |
1.60 |
|
Clearances |
1.76 |
1.07 |
|
All Stats via FBref for 25 & 25/26 Seasons |
||
This just shows how complete a profile the Florianópolis-born gem already has and suggests he could be an excellent top-flight all-action midfielder.
Finally, at just 21, the Palmeiras “machine,” as dubbed by manager Abel Ferreira, is four years younger than the former Chelsea ace, meaning that, with the right coaching, he should only get better in the coming seasons and therefore become more valuable.
Ultimately, while missing out on Gallagher is far from ideal, Villa might end up getting the better signing in Allan anyway.
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