Although Villa have decent striking options, with the likes of Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings, both Steven Gerrard and his predecessor Dean Smith have seen injuries impact their ability to rotate.
Danny Ings has been sidelined until very recently with a lingering hamstring complaint and Keinan Davis has once again frequently been on the treatment table.
Davis, although not a first choice, was also expected to go out on loan to Stoke City and may yet depart in January with just a solitary Premier League goal to his name.
Davis’ Villa career now also appears on borrowed time due to the emergence of two exciting youth prospects in Cameron Archer and Louie Barry.
Further, the clubs former record signing Wesley’s recuperation from long term injury has plateaued. The Brazilian strikers loan move back to his former club in Belgium has reaped little of note and a switch to South American side Sao Paulo appears to be on the cards.
It’s perhaps therefore no surprise that Villa are considering alternative attacking options, especially given the stated objective of “continuous improvement” from the hierarchy.
25 year old Brazilian international Gabriel ‘Gabi’ Barbosa is reported to be on a number of European clubs radars. Barbosa had an unsuccessful spell at Inter Milan earlier in his career, and appeared just 9 times, before moving back to South America. He has since been prolific for both Santos and Flamengo, scoring over 50 goals in 80 outings.