Villa reportedly make bid for prolific Championship striker

If I told you that Aston Villa were going to get a tall, powerful, aerially adept, 26-year-old striker who averages a goal every 1.91 matches with his current club you'd be ecstatic, right? You'd wonder how it was that we were getting Christian Benteke back from Liverpool so soon. And then you'd expect me to quote you a £15 million or so price tag.

But what if I told you that Aston Villa could have all of that for only £7 million? We can throw a party, right?

If reports are to be believed we may have to get the streamers and cake ready, because Aston Villa have apparently had a £7 million bid accepted for Blackburn Rovers striker Rudy Gestede. Tim Sherwood is apparently keen to add Gestede to his growing stockpile of strikers, and for good reason, too. In two full seasons at Rovers, Gestede has nabbed 34 goals in 66 appearances, including 22 this last season. His presence in the air and strength in the box would make him a huge asset and he may be the closest thing to a Benteke replacement that we've been linked to yet.

He's not a perfect match, though. By all accounts Gestede is still quite raw. He doesn't have quite the pace of Benteke and his link-up play could apparently use a bit of work. He's not exactly young, either. While 26 isn't old in the football world, it's at the point where you have to stop thinking potential and start thinking of here-and-now results.

Luckily Gestede had those last year. He played especially well in the FA Cup against Premier League competition like Swansea and Stoke. Better still, he bagged a hat-trick this year when Rovers visited Birmingham City.

And if you're wondering what Sherwood is doing looking at a non-Ligue 1 striker: Gestede was born in France.

Sign him up now, Timmy!