Aston Villa's unprecedented Premier League title pursuit has hit a little snag over the past week as the Midlands club disappointingly dropped two points against Sheffield United before letting a 2-0 lead slip to lose to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

Nevertheless, with some winnable fixtures on the horizon and the winter market set to open up, Unai Emery's side could potentially get themselves back on track in January.

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ByDan Emery

Emery certainly won't be disappointed in his side's efforts thus far into the season but may still feel there are one or two areas in the starting lineup that could be strengthened.

Aston Villa transfer news – Crysencio Summerville

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Aston Villa are keeping tabs on Leeds United attacker Crysencio Summerville ahead of the winter transfer window. Summerville moved to Elland Road for a paltry £1.3m back in 2020 but has seen his price rapidly increase in value. It has also been reported that the attacker has a £20m release clause in his contract that Villa could activate over the coming weeks.

The "explosive" winger, as he was described by football scout Jacek Kulig, has been in excellent form this season for the Yorkshire club as Daniel Farke's men are making a push for the automatic promotion spots.

The 22-year-old is currently Leeds' top goalscorer this term, having found the net 11 times in 22 games and registering six assists in total. Only Southampton's Adam Armstrong has more goal contributions in the Championship across the 2023/24 campaign than Summerville.

Now, Summerville could make a move to Villa Park, swapping Yorkshire for the Midlands by the end of January and Emery would certainly be silly not to sanction this deal, particularly since the Dutchman is performing better than one key Aston Villa star.

Crysencio Summerville's stats this season

Not only is Summerville one of the top goalscorers in English football this season, but he also has more goals and goal contributions than Aston Villa's entire squad, except for Ollie Watkins. That includes star winger Leon Bailey, who has 15 in all competitions, as well as Villa's £52m summer signing and club-record transfer Moussa Diaby.

The Frenchman has struggled to fit in at Villa Park since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen. In Diaby's first seven games, he managed to score two goals and register four assists, meaning he was averaging a goal contribution every 0.86 games. However, over his last twelve matches, he has scored one goal and bagged one assist, an average of 0.17 goal contributions per game.

Diaby's drop-off in form has been quite worrying, particularly given the weight of expectation behind his expensive arrival since he was the club's most expensive signing of all time. Despite starting the three matches before Boxing Day, Emery dropped the 24-year-old for Villa's trip to Manchester, bringing him on with 13 minutes to go which could be a sign that the manager is losing faith in his big-money purchase.

Summerville could be the perfect player for Emery to rectify his error as the former Feyenoord gem has outperformed Diaby in several key areas this term – albeit in a lower league.

Goals

0.56

0.23

Expected Goals

0.42

0.21

Assists

0.3

0.23

Expected Assists

0.36

0.16

Progressive Passes

4.04

3.17

Progressive Carries

5.41

3.78

Key Passes

3.5

1.71

Successful Take-Ons %

51.9%

46%

Stats via FBref

Hindsight is 20/20 and Summerville had yet to have any impact at Leeds United before this season commenced. However, the young winger could now be the perfect signing for Villa to ease the blow of Diaby's dip in form and for less than half his overall price.