Unai Emery and Aston Villa have thus far been frustrated in their efforts to sign Morgan Rogers from Championship side Middlesbrough. Michael Carrick's side have rejected two offers for the forward, and they're adamant that they won't compromise on a fee.
Rogers himself is thought to be keen on making the move to the Premier League high-flyers this month, and Villa are pushing to make him their main signing of the window after an earlier buy-and-loan-back deal for Red Star Belgrade's Kosta Nedeljkovic. There was a feeling, though, that this could become a saga that runs until the deadline.
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As it turns out, Villa may be taking matters into their own hands by running the rule over an alternative who's also been impressing in the second tier.
Villa send scouts to watch Rowe
According to The Telegraph's John Percy, Villa are showing a "strong interest" in Jonathan Rowe at Norwich City. Three of the club's scouts were in attendance to watch him at Elland Road as Leeds beat Norwich 1-0 in midweek.
Percy clarifies that "Villa are still hopeful" of landing Rogers, but Rowe is very much "on their radar" as a possible Plan B after catching the eye with his impressive performances so far this season. After all, they wouldn't be sending multiple members of their recruitment team if they weren't huge admirers.
Rowe edges Rogers for goal threat
Norwich manager David Wagner recently said there are "no indications" that Rowe would be moving on and expressed confidence that he would remain with the Canaries past the winter deadline, but an official bid from Villa would drastically alter the landscape.
A 20-year-old academy graduate, Rowe is one short of 50 appearances for the club, with 31 of those coming this season. He's capable of playing on both wings and has been immensely productive this season, scoring 12 goals without any penalties to rank third in the division. It's worth noting that the England Under-21 international has over-performed his xG by a whopping 6.9, and while this shows that he's been devastating in front of goal, Villa would have to expect an initial regression, especially in a stronger league.
Greg Crane, one of Rowe's former coaches at Carrow Road, says he's a player who's always possessed a certain "wow factor", and he's demonstrating that in the second tier this season. The table below shows how he compares with Rogers as a goalscorer, creator and one-on-one threat:
Goals
0.14
0.57
Assists
0.41
0.09
Successful take-ons
1.86
1.47
Fouls drawn
1.24
2.37
You can see that the only area where Rogers has a standout advantage is assists, and Rowe more than makes up for that by finding the net more often. Fouled 50 times already this season (the fifth-most in the league), he's a player defenders find difficult to stop by fair means.
It remains to be seen how much Norwich will demand for his signature, but if he's available for less than Rogers, then there's a strong case for Villa pivoting away from the Boro man in the final days of the window.
