Pundit urges Aston Villa to sign Leeds United transfer target in January:

Ben Brereton Diaz is struggling in Spain and has been linked with a move to Leeds, but Micah Richards wants Unai Emery to land the 24-year-old

Even though they are one of the most prolific attacking outfits in the Championship, Leeds United continue to be linked with forwards ahead of the January transfer window.

Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville, Dan James and Joel Piroe are all chipping in with goals, and with Wilfried Gnonto and Patrick Bamford in reserve, Daniel Farke has plenty of depth.

There are signs though that the Whites will be in the market for a new attacker next month – it was reported in November that AFC Wimbledon hot-shot Ali Al-Hamadi had been scouted, whilst Norwegian outfit Haugesund’s Malian striker Sory Ibrahim Diarra is a target for United according to reports from the 23-year-old’s native country.

There are signs though that the Whites will be in the market for a new attacker next month – it was reported in November that AFC Wimbledon hot-shot Ali Al-Hamadi had been scouted, whilst Norwegian outfit Haugesund’s Malian striker Sory Ibrahim Diarra is a target for United according to reports from the 23-year-old’s native country.

Micah Richards tells Aston Villa to pip Leeds to Brereton Diaz

Despite being linked with Championship clubs and lower-end Premier League outfits, Brereton Diaz has been identified as a potentially useful signing for Aston Villa, who are chasing the top tier title under Unai Emery.

And it is their former defender Micah Richards who is wanting the Midlands outfit to make a move for the Chile international in January, despite the fact he hasn’t had a great time out in Spain so far.

“You know who I’m going to go with, someone left field and you guys probably haven’t seen him play, no disrespect, because we don’t watch a lot of Championship,” Richards said on the Rest Is Football podcast.

“We’re always working, so we the highlights but don’t always see the games.

“Someone like a (Ben) Brereton Diaz who was at Blackburn. Someone who’s just below a level, that’s what I’m trying to say.”

Brereton Diaz struggling for starts at Villarreal

After scoring 38 goals in 88 appearances for Blackburn in his final two seasons at Ewood Park, Brereton Diaz was a man in-demand and ultimately decided to test himself abroad.

However, the 24-year-old has started just twice from his 12 league appearances out in Spain, and even with another new manager in the form of Marcelino he is being restricted to just cameo outings from the bench for the last few minutes of a match.

Brereton Diaz has appeared in four of Villarreal’s five UEFA Europa League matches, starting in three of those, but in 17 appearances in all competitions, the forward is yet to get on the score-sheet or bag an assist.

That would surely not make him the right fit for Aston Villa, but Unai Emery is getting the best out of the squad he has right now and there is a definite lack of attacking options at Villa Park right now – if Ollie Watkins were to get injured then they would be in trouble.

It’s hard to see Villa heeding Richards’ advice though in January – somewhere like Leeds or a bottom half Premier League side would be more suited to Brereton Diaz’s talents, but Daniel Farke getting his hands on the Chilean may rest on letting an attacking player leave.