Aston Villa new boy Jordan Ayew is a “star in the makingâ€, says manager Tim Sherwood.
Ayew, 23, joined Villa last week from French club Lorient for around £8.5 million, having enjoyed a breakout 2014-15 campaign in which he scored 12 times in 26 Ligue 1 appearances.
His impressive goalscoring form had led to reported interest from the likes of Everton earlier this summer [h/t Liverpool Echo] but the Ghana international later opted to head to the West Midlands after holding talks with Sherwood.
Speaking to AVTV, the claret and blue boss said of his new striker: “Jordan can play a number of positions. He can play on the left side of the attack or as a number nine. He’s got good pace, strength and his all-round game is what we’re looking for.
“He’s a good age with a very good pedigree. A lot of clubs were looking to take him but he decided that his future lied here and we think we’ve got a star in the making there.â€
Ayew, the son of Ghana legend Abedi Pele, played just one season at Lorient, having joined the club from League 1 rivals and hometown team Marseille last summer after spending the second half of the 2013-14 campaign on loan at Sochaux.
The French-born attacker made most of his 147 appearances for L’OM either off the bench or on the wing, managing just 22 goals as a result, but he has since shown what he is capable of with regular minutes up top.
At 5ft 11in, he is likely to serve as an upgrade to the long-serving Gabby Agbonlahor rather than Christian Benteke’s replacement but, given that he is far from the finished article, it remains to be seen how long he will take to adapt to English football.
The promising speedster is not lacking in experience, though, with a World Cup campaign and six seasons of French top-flight football under his belt, and, after a couple of bright pre-season outings, he looks primed to start the weekend’s Premier League opener at Bournemouth.