Ollie Watkins suffered from a rare off-day in front of goal on the opening day of the brand new Premier League season.

The usually lethal Aston Villa marksman could only muster up one meagre effort on Nick Pope’s goal, yet Unai Emery kept his faith in the ex-Brentford striker by keeping him on the pitch throughout, despite such a lifeless display.

Watkins will want to just jot this down as a rusty display as he attempts to get back up to speed with what is expected of him, having bagged 16 goals last season in the Premier League.

Evann Guessand surprisingly failed to get a run-out against the Toon, despite costing the Villans £30m this summer, with an instant upgrade on the former OGC Nice striker now perhaps in the offing.

Aston Villa holds talks to sign £60m attacker

The West Midlands giants haven’t had the most action-packed transfer window to date, away from splashing out £30m on their new number 29.

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Indeed, Marco Bizot is arguably their most notable signing other than Guessand arriving through the door, with a clean sheet already picked up by the fresh Villa stopper on a memorable debut.

More concerningly, the main talk this off-season has centred on players leaving Villa Park behind.

Homegrown Villa gem Jacob Ramsey is now officially a Magpies player, having sealed a £43m move to St James’ Park right after his now former employers clashed against his new side.

Any worry in the air about this sale could soon dissipate if Villa were to add Nicolas Jackson to their attacking personnel.

Indeed, according to Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Jackson is now on Emery’s short-list, having already held talks with the hit-and-miss Chelsea attacker previously.

While the £60m-rated forward has frustrated the Stamford Bridge masses consistently, there is certainly a player in there if Villa remain patient, especially when you consider what Emery managed to achieve with Marcus Rashford last season, as he waved goodbye to Manchester United temporarily to find his mojo again.

How Jackson is an instant upgrade on Guessand

Getting Jackson back to his confident, free-flowing best could well be a masterstroke in the long run, as Villa win themselves an immediate upgrade on Guessand, who can also keep a hot-and-cold Watkins on his toes at the peak of his powers.

This isn’t to say Guessand won’t be a hit on English shores, though.

After all, the Ivorian can line up as a blistering performer down either wing if needed – as much as he can line up as an out-and-out centre-forward like the Chelsea number 15 – with this quick burst of pace on the flanks even seeing him be dubbed as “electric” by U23 scout Antonio Mango.

Yet, he isn’t without his faults in front of goal, much like a heavily criticised Jackson. Guessand is definitely a work in progress, therefore, with the Villa number 29 only firing home 21 goals in total for Nice from 109 appearances.

12 of those amazingly came about just last season, with Guessand only managing to pick one paltry goal all campaign long during a forgettable 2021/22 offering for Nice.

Chelsea

81

30 + 12

Villarreal

48

13 + 6

Villarreal B

27

7 + 8

CD Mirandes

17

1 + 1

Jackson has also experienced similar barren patches of form in West London – as seen in him squandering a colossal 19 big chances in the Premier League last season – but he will feel he’s more well-equipped for the pressures of being one of Villa’s main choices up top when he’s performing to his red-hot best, over spurning chances galore.

Indeed, despite missing all those chances, the Senegalese striker trumped Guessand’s Ligue 1 output last season by firing home 13 Premier League efforts, with a further, clinical 17 efforts also next to his name for Enzo Maresca’s men.

Chelsea great John Obi Mikel has even heralded Jackson as a “monster” in front of goal when he isn’t experiencing a crisis in confidence, with a change of scenery perhaps what is needed for the 24-year-old to become a stable goalscoring presence.

After all, Villa managed to turn Watkins into a goal machine at the taxing level, with a hope now that the £60m attacker can provide the 29-year-old with some needed competition, alongside a rawer Guessand waiting in the wings.

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