Aston Villa enter race to sign Michu

Earlier this week we asked ourselves, what else is there for Villa to achieve this summer? We may now have our answer, as the club are apparently interested in signing Swansea City playmaker Michu.

According to Wales Online, Aston Villa have joined in what is by all accounts a hotly contested race to sign the 29 year old Spaniard. Celtic, Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano have all been linked with Michu this summer, but Villa might be his preferred destination if a report from Spain can be believed.

Seville based news outlet El Decano Deportivo said:

""In the last hours, a bid from Aston Villa has quite seduced the former Rayo Vallecano striker because he wants to continue in the Premier League."

This would seemingly put Villa in good stead to sign Michu, and given that Swansea manager Garry Monk ruled out any chance of Michu remaining at the club, he may be available for a reasonably low transfer fee.

When he is at his best, Michu can be Christian Benteke levels of effective. He scored 18 goals in his debut season at Swansea, but injuries have stalled his career since then. He has only played in 20 games in two years, and a loan spell at Napoli did nothing to revive his career.

ON THIS DAY: In August 2012, #Swans thrashed @QPRFC 5-0 on the opening day of the season. Watch all five goals now! https://t.co/Sd3vL1DDWw

— Swansea City FC (@SwansOfficial) August 18, 2015

The video above, from Michu's Swansea City debut against QPR shows what he brings to the table. But it could also offer a clue as to where he may fit in in an Aston Villa side. For Swansea, he played in a Centre Forward role, with pacey wingers Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge aside him, and target man Danny Graham ahead of him. With this in mind, he'd fit right into Villa's 4-2-3-1 / 4-4-1-1 style of play. It goes without saying that Villa have an abundance of wide players, and Michu may fit in just behind a Libor Kozak or Rudy Gestede up front.

Wales Online are a reasonably competent source, but they have sourced some of their information from the Spanish media, which is notoriously less reliable. As for Michu, if he could stay fit, he could potentially be a good signing. That, is a big if, and it's also worth noting that Villa possibly need a new defender with more urgency than another attacking player.

What do you think of this news? Let us know below and stay tuned as we continue our build up to Saturday's game against Crystal Palace!