Aston Villa 'considering bid for Jeremy Doku'

Unai Emery is currently looking to further strengthen his first-team squad having already secured deals for Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans.

If reports are to be believed, a versatile attacker is next on the agenda, with the West Midlands outfit being linked with several different names.

Earlier this week, it was suggested that AC Milan's Charles de Ketelaere and Bayer Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby were each on Emery's shortlist.

The latter, in particular, is allegedly high on Villa's agenda, but the Europa Conference League qualifiers are yet to agree a fee with their counterparts at the Bundesliga outfit.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, attempting to secure the transfer of Diaby remains a priority, even with Leverkusen currently against selling the player for €35m (£30.04m) plus add-ons.

Nevertheless, Romano adds that Villa will contemplate an approach for Doku if they are unsuccessful with their efforts to bring in Diaby.

The 21-year-old has been regarded as one of European football's top prospects ever since breaking into the senior ranks yet at Anderlecht, yet he has not always earned regular starts.

Since moving to Rennes in October 2020, just 43 of his 73 outings in Ligue 1 have come from the opening whistle, with 13 starts and 16 substitute appearances being made during 2022-23.

That said, the Belgium international shook off an injury sustained in March to produce some of his best form for Rennes, contributing five goals and two assists during a six-game period April 15 and May 21.

Such a run will likely see Rennes push hard to retain the services of Doku during the summer, but just two years remain on his contract at the present time.

Having paid £21m for Doku less than three years ago, Rennes would demand at least that value if any bigger clubs made a formal bid for one of their key players before the end of August.

Doku also featured in each of Belgium's Euro 2024 qualifiers in June, a further indication that the former Anderlecht youngster could further fulfil his potential in 2023-24.