Aston Villa should reignite their interest in Harold Moukoudi next summer

According to Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa target Harold Moukoudi has attracted interest from Napoli, with the Serie A giants on the lookout for fresh blood to replace the ageing Raul Albiol.

The same report claims that Aston Villa were close to signing the former French U20 international last summer but a move fell through, with the 21-year-old deciding to continue at his current club Le Havre in Ligue 2.

A product of Le Havre’s youth system, Moukoudi made his senior professional debut in 2016 and has developed into one of the finest young defenders in the French second tier, attracting interest from some top European clubs like Napoli and Borussia Dortmund. The 21-year-old has accumulated 6 goals and an assist from 63 appearances for his boyhood club across all competitions.

Standing at 6ft. 2 inches with a towering and sinewy frame, Moukoudi is known as an all-action centre-back who excels with his upper body strength and aerial prowess. While he is adept at keeping the opposition at bay with his superior upper body strength, his height gives him an obvious advantage over most of his offensive counterparts.

The Frenchman is also quite comfortable with the ball at his feet and he doesn’t hesitate to play the ball out from the back. To sum it up, he is a wonderful young centre-back in the making with his well-rounded physical and technical attributes.

To put things into perspective, Aston Villa should reignite their interest in the Frenchman next summer, having been unsuccessful in their attempts to lure him away from Ligue 2 to Villa Park this season. The youngster has already attracted interest from some bona-fide European giants and the Lions need to act quickly to avoid losing out on one of their most promising targets.

Villa currently sit 10th in the Championship standings with 33 points from 44 games, 7 points adrift of Middlesbrough for the final promotion playoff spot. They were considered as one of the favourites to achieve promotion but things haven’t really gone according to the script for the Lions.

Dean Smith has done a fair job since taking over the reins from Steve Bruce last year but susceptibility at the back continues to be one of the major causes of concern at Villa Park. Villa have shipped goals at an alarming rate this season and none of the centre-backs has been able to string together a series of consistent performances. It might sound harsh but Villa have been shambolic at the back all season.

The injury to Axel Tuanzebe has left Smith with Tommy Elphick and James Chester as options at the heart of the defence. The acquisition of Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth and Kortney Hause from Wolves on loan deals can be seen as right moves but they need to strike a deal for Harold Moukoudi next summer to bolster their backline.

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Hence, it would be a no-brainer for Smith to reignite his interest in the French defensive wall.