Aston Villa are linked with one of Europe's top young strikers amid uncertainty about Marcus Rashford's future at the club.

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Villa linked with Rashford alternativeSamu deal could cost £50mChelsea nearly signed him last summerFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

has reported that Villa are showing interest in Samu Aghehowa, who has scored 24 goals for Porto this season. The Spanish talent only joined the Portuguese club last summer and an offer of £50 million ($66m) could be enough to prompt a deal. Villa are thought to be keeping an open as to the attacking make-up of their squad next season, with doubts over Rashford and even Ollie Watkins.

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Rashford is on loan from Manchester United until the end of the season. The England forward comes with a £40m ($53m) option to buy, but there are far from any guarantees that Villa will trigger it, with Rashford reported to prefer the idea of joining Barcelona and concerns about meeting his sky high wage demands after his parent club has covered a sizeable chunk of that salary since January. Interest in Samu could be an indication that Villa are preparing to look elsewhere.

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The striker, previously known as Samu Omorodion, was close to joining Chelsea last summer. A £35m ($47m) deal was in place with Atletico Madrid, but the Blues were not satisfied by the outcome of a medical assessment, prompting the transfer to collapse. Porto then offered the player a deal instead.

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Villa must make a final decision on Rashford, whether to retain him at the option price or not. If they let the forward return to United, the club's transfer department will be more free to pursue targets they want to strengthen up front.