Southampton, Middlesbrough set sights on eye-catching Aston Villa star to boost promotion hopes

Southampton and Middlesbrough are eyeing moves for Aston Villa loan star Finn Azaz, TEAMtalk has been informed by sources.

Azaz has again caught the eye in the Championship this season in his second loan spell at Plymouth Argyle.

The 23-year-old, who spent all of last season at Home Park as the Pilgrims won the League One title, has been a standout performer for them again in the Championship.

Azaz has scored seven goals and provided five assists in 26 games in the Championship so far this season, including a goal-of-the-season contender with a stunning volley in the New Year’s Day draw with Watford.

He’s in the top 20 players in the league for both goals and assists. He looks set to beat his tally of both goals (eight) and assists (nine) in League One last season, despite playing a level higher.

Southampton and Boro are both keeping tabs on Azaz’s situation as they look to bolster their midfield options in this month’s transfer window.

Both clubs see Azaz as someone who could add goals and creativity to their squads as they look to mount bids for promotion to the Premier League in the second half of the season.

Azaz joined Villa in 2021 from Midlands rival West Brom, but he is yet to make a first-team appearance due to the star-studded options available to Unai Emery in the first-team.

The Republic of Ireland under-21 international has enjoyed loan spells at Newport County and Plymouth in the last two years so that he could continue his development with regular first-team football.

Both those spells have seen him turn into one of the star men for the respective sides.

Azaz signed a new deal earlier this summer prior to his return to Plymouth and it remains to be seen if Villa would consider selling the attacking-midfielder if Southampton or Middlesbrough firm up their interest.

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