Villa close to signing Abraham from Besiktas

Aston Villa are close to completing a £18m deal for Besiktas striker Tammy Abraham.

The 28-year-old is expected to finalise a move to Villa Park over the weekend after travelling to the UK. It is understood he will have a medical on Saturday.

Abraham has been a priority target for boss Unai Emery who has been looking for extra firepower to support Ollie Watkins, especially after the sale of Donyell Malen to Roma last week.

Besiktas signed the England international on loan from Roma last summer, with an obligation to buy if certain targets were met.

The Turkish side are believed to have activated their option to buy for around £12m, meaning Villa will pay Besiktas the transfer fee.

Reports in Turkey suggest defender Yasin Ozcan, who has been on loan at Anderlecht, will join Besiktas from Villa as part of the agreement.

Roberto Olabe, Villa's president of football operations, flew to Turkey to watch Abraham play as Besiktas beat Kayserispor 1-0 on Monday.

Abraham joined Roma from Chelsea in August 2021 for £34m and was a regular under manager Jose Mourinho.

He played 120 times for Roma and had a key role in helping them to win the Conference League in 2021-22 - scoring nine times in 13 appearances.

But the forward slipped down the pecking order after Mourinho was sacked in January 2024 and was loaned out to AC Milan the following season.

He made history in his debut season - his 17 league goals making him the highest English scorer in a single Serie A campaign.

David Platt (31) and Gerry Hitchens (58) are the only Englishmen to have scored more than Abraham's tally of 29 in Serie A.

Abraham spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Villa, scoring 25 times to help them back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs.