With the summer transfer window well and truly back open, Aston Villa have a huge few weeks ahead.
After failing to qualify for the Champions League after defeat against Manchester United on the final day of the season, the West Midlands side find themselves in the Europa League.
That surely makes them less appealing to top players they are looking to sign, and also means they have less money, which could make it tough to turn the loan moves of Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford into permanent deals. Spain international Asensio did not have a buy clause in his loan from Paris Saint-Germain, and it is unclear if he will come back.
Well, if it turns out that Asensio doesn’t re-sign for Villa, they seemingly have a replacement in mind.
Villa's potential Asensio replacement
It would certainly be a huge blow for Villa if they were to lose Asensio, who had a great impact and brought lots of technical quality in attacking areas to their squad. However, they seem to be targeting a fellow Spaniard to replace him.
According to a newspaper in Spain, via Caught Offside, Unai Emery and his side are seemingly targeting a move for Real Betis attacker Jesus Rodriguez. He reportedly has a release clause worth £30m in his current deal, but Betis are negotiating a new contract with the view of increasing the price of that release clause to around £43m.
Of course, the release clause makes this a complicated situation, and on top of that, Betis are thought to be set on keeping Rodriguez.
However, Villans’ sporting director Monchi ‘is determined to sign’ the attacker, and ‘will be leading negotiations to get the deal done’ this summer.
Why Rodríguez would be a good signing
Despite being just 19 years of age, Rodriguez had a strong second half of the campaign with Betis, after breaking into the first team under Manuel Pellegrini following a stint in the youth team until December.
The Seville-born sensation played in 32 senior games last season for the club, scoring three times and grabbing one assist. He played a lot of first-team football, too, notching up 1739 minutes, the equivalent of 19 full 90-minute games. If anything, that shows the trust Pellegrini has in him already.
The 19-year-old attacker performed well in the UEFA Conference League last season, too. Although Betis lost in the final to Chelsea, he had an important role in their quest to the final, playing eight games and scoring against Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok.
There is no doubt about it, Rodriguez stepping into Asensio’s shoes at Villa Park would be no mean feat. Not only is he ten years younger and therefore far less experienced, but the impact he had at Villa would be tough to recreate.
Even Asensio himself struggled to continue the form he showcased during the early part of his career in the West Midlands. He scored eight times and grabbed one assist in 21 games, but after a rapid start, couldn’t keep up his hot run of form past the start of April.
When looking at the underlying stats on FBref last season for both Rodriguez, a Spain U21 international, and Asensio, there are some numbers that stack up well against each other. One of those is goal-creating actions, in which the Betis man averaged 0.41 per game compared to the Villa loanee’s 0.66, showing they are both involved in their team’s goals regularly.
Described as an “explosive” player by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Rodriguez will certainly bring dynamic ball-carrying to Villa Park, more so than Asensio of the stats are anything to go by. The 19-year-old averaged 4.31 progressive carries each game last season, compared to Asensio’s 2.72 per 90 minutes.
Goal-creating actions
0.41
0.66
Progressive carries
4.31
2.72
Carries into penalty area
3.17
0.93
Take-ons completed
2.44
1.06
Ball recoveries
4.72
3.05
It is not hard to see why Rodriguez will be Emery’s new Asensio. Not only are they both Spanish attackers who can play across the frontline, but he has the technical quality of the former Real Madrid star, combined with the habit of being involved in goals, even if that is not directly.
This seems like a deal Monchi wants to get over the line, and for £30m, the value of his current release clause, it could be an excellent piece of business for the Villans.
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1 ByTom CunninghamJun 12, 2025