Villa chase Rennes’ star striker

Aston Villa are reportedly lining up another raid on French football for Rennes forward Paul-Georges Ntep.

The 22-year-old Cameroonian-born striker, who has two internationals caps for France, scored nine goals in 38 appearances in all competitions for the Ligue 1 outfit last season.

Villa boss Tim Sherwood has already acquired defender Jordan Amavi and midfielder Idrissa Gueye from the French top-flight for a combined fee of £19m, but the Midlands club are still looking to replace Christian Benteke who sealed his move to Liverpool earlier this week.

Rennes are destined to demand at least £10m for their prized asset, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Villa following the sales of Benteke (£32.5m) and Fabian Delph (£8m) to Manchester City earlier this summer.

However; Sherwood’s men are not the only clubs monitoring the highly rated Ligue 1 star, with Premier League rivals Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City and West Ham United all supposedly interested in the former Auxerre ace.