DEAN SMITH wants Egypt’s highly-rated winger Mahmoud Trezeguet to bolster his Aston Villa attack.
The Egyptian could be on his way to Villa Park in an £8million deal.
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Smith wants to add another creative wide-man to operate on the opposite flank to Jota, who he snapped up for £4million from neighbours Birmingham City last month.
The Villa boss has already had an £8.9m bid for Brentford’s Algerian winger Said Benrahma rejected by the Bees.
However SunSport can reveal Smith has turned his attention to another North African raider, with Egypt’s Mahmoud Trezeguet now top of his wish-list after impressing Villa scouts at the African Cup of Nations.
Trezeguet picked up the nickname, aged nine, because his coach thought the high-scoring youngster bore a striking resemblance to the former Monaco and Juventus scoring legend, who struck gold at the 1998 world cup with France.
Nowadays Mahmoud operates as a winger for Turkish side Kasimpasa, where he scored nine goals in 29 league games last season to attract serious interest from Galatasaray, Italian giants Inter Milan and Slavia Prague.
However it is his form at the AFCON Cup with Mo Salah’s Pharaohs which has alerted Smith after the experienced 24-year-old impressed for the tournament hosts.
Trezeguet made an instant impression, grabbing the only goal of the game in Egypt’s opening day win over Zimbabwe.
Since then he has helped Egypt cruise through to the last 16, finishing top of Group A with a 100% record.
Trezeguet also has a useful ally in Villa’s Egyptian full-back Ahmed Elmohamady who has been urging Smith to take a look at his talented international teammate for some time now.
Villa will follow up that glowing recommendation by having their representatives in Cairo on Saturday to watch the 41-times-capped winger in action during Egypt’s first knockout round tie.
Trezeguet has previously played for Anderlecht and Mouscron in Belgium but never settled there, due to his inability to master the language.
However he has matured since his move to Turkey and has gained huge experience, appearing in all three of Egypt’s world cup group games in Russia last summer.
Villa will assess Trezeguet this weekend and Smith could bid shortly afterwards with a £8million offer being lined up.
