Aston Villa are set to confirm the signing of Wesley Moraes from Club Brugge in a record breaking deal, according to journalist Kristof Terreur.
The reliable reporter, who works for Belgian publication HLN, claims on his personal Twitter account that the Villans have secured a £22million deal for the Brazilian forward, after seeing him net 17 goals for the Jupiler League side last season, including two goals in the Europa League.
7 years ago Aston Villa signed a strong, tall, promising 21-year old striker from the Jupiler Pro League.
Now they have signed a strong, tall, promising 22-year old striker from the same league: Brazilian Wesley Moraes from Club Brugge for £22m.@hlnsport @niels_27 #avfc pic.twitter.com/Np31ezkEUJ
— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) June 13, 2019
The £22million fee for the 6’3″ giant (source: Transfermarkt) would break the current transfer record Villa Park, the Mirror reporting that their current top spend is the £18million spent on Darren Bent’s capture.
Opinion
What a move this could be for Villa as they prepare for their return back among the top flight. Wesley, as he is known, has been banging in the goals for fun with Club Brugge and he has also turned provider on occasion with a further 10 assists under his belt. Tammy Abraham was the man who fired the Villans to play-off glory in the Championship but it looks as though he might well be staying with Chelsea next season amid their transfer ban. It has left the newly promoted outfit seeking a worthwhile replacement and while he might not have proved himself at the very top level, Wesley certainly looks to have the attributes to fill that void. A powerful presence up front, he knows where the back of the net is and Dean Smith will be praying that he can bring his form from Belgian over the North Sea and into the Premier League. As Terreur says, there was a prolific Belgian signing seven years ago at Villa Park – can Wesley follow in Christian Benteke’s footsteps?