Aston Villa are interested in signing Lyon striker Moussa Dembélé ahead of next week's transfer deadline, Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor has told GiveMeSport.

The Villans are looking to add another centre-forward to Unai Emery's squad at Villa Park compete with Ollie Watkins during the second half of the campaign.

Aston Villa transfer news – Moussa Dembélé

According to the Daily Mail, Villa have made an approach to Lyon for the services of Dembélé, who is admired by Emery as the West Midlands outfit look to boost their attacking options.

The 26-year-old could be available for a cut-price fee this month, with his £52k-per-week contract at the Ligue 1 side set to expire at the end of the season, meaning that he can now negotiate a pre-contract deal with sides from abroad.

Emery will be looking for another centre-forward addition before the transfer window’s closure next week after sanctioning the £15m sale of Danny Ings to fellow Premier League outfit West Ham United last week.

However, journalist Simon Phillips has recently told GiveMeSport that Everton could join Villa in the race for Dembélé’s signature though the Toffees are also targeting Atalanta’s Duván Zapata, whilst Frank Lampard's sacking at Goodison has thrown a potential move to Goodison into jeopardy.

And Taylor believes that, whilst the nature of Villa’s transfer business is generally hard to predict, Dembélé is “definitely a player of interest.”

What has Taylor said about Aston Villa and Dembélé?

When speaking about Villa’s potential transfer business, Taylor told GiveMeSport: “It's hard for me to put names on targets because Villa work beneath the radar, but Moussa Dembélé is definitely a player of interest.”

Would Dembélé be a good signing for Aston Villa?

Dembélé – who has previously been dubbed as a “machine” by journalist Bertrand Latour – could prove to be a useful addition to Emery’s squad, especially if he’s available at a reasonable price.

The former Celtic star has only bagged two goals and provided one assist in 16 appearances this campaign as per 22 times last time out, Emery will be confident of helping the Frenchman rediscover his best form.

Still, the 6 foot striker ranks favourably in comparison to his positional peers, ranking in the top 5% of forwards across Europe’s big five leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (0.65) over the last 365 days, as per FBref.

Therefore, a move to Villa Park could prove to be just the tonic Dembélé needs to rekindle his goalscoring form and his signing could prove to be a smart move for the Villans if they can negotiate a fair price with Lyon.

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