Aston Villa are in pole position to sign Brentford No.9 Neal Maupay, according to Alan Nixon.

Villa have already bought in Wesley, though this seemingly hasn’t prevented them from chasing another striker.

While they are currently the front runners to secure the Frenchman’s signature, they could face competition from West Ham United, Sheffield United and Brighton & Hove Albion, according to Football Insider.

Neal Maupay was prolific last season, scoring 28 goals in 46 starts and three substitute appearances across all competitions, while he also added eight assists.

The goals he scored came in an impressively diverse manner, with some being easy on the eye – with one example coming against Villa – while others came courtesy of predatory and instinctive finishes.

He also highlighted he can bring others into the game, executing 1.3 key passes per match and at 22-years-old there is still room for development in his game.

While this would be an exciting move for Villa, it has to be questioned whether the move is completely necessary at this stage.

They have just spent big on Wesley, so if they continue to play with one main striker as they did for large parts of last season (as shown on WhoScored), signing Maupay may not send the best message to their new man.

In addition, there is also Jonathan Kodjia who will be hoping for his chance to play – if Maupay does join, Dean Smith may need to change his formation if he is to keep all of his main strikers content.

There are positions such as goalkeeper they are trying to improve, as indicated by The Daily Mail’s report on their Martin Dubravka interest, so they could be better off spending the money on those positions.

Aston Villa fans, does Smith need another centre-forward this summer? Join the discussion by commenting below!