Aston Villa have seen an abundance of talent take to the pitch at Villa Park over the years, however not all names have been as memorable as others.
Unai Emery’s current crop of stars are reviving the good times in the Midlands, from the expertise of Emi Martinez between the posts, to the reliability of Ollie Watkins leading the line, the Villans seem to be destined for new highs.
Having a reliable goalscorer hasn’t always been the case for Villa in the Premier League era, from Rudy Gestede to Danny Ings, some players have simply failed to live up to expectation of fulfilling the number nine role.
While some transfers have been worse than others when it came to acquiring strikers in the past, one name sticks out as having a woeful time at the club, however his form since leaving tells a different story.
Borja Baston’s statistics for Aston Villa
In January 2020, Dean Smith made the decision to sign striker Borja Baston from Swansea City on a free transfer, in the bid to boost his options going forward.
Smith had captured the signature of Brazilian forward Wesley in the summer prior, however following the new signing’s anterior cruciate ligament blow early into his debut season at Villa, Baston was introduced as an additional reinforcement.
The Spaniard had been in South Wales for three-and-a-half years prior to his move to Villa, signing for the Swans from Atletico Madrid in 2016, where he then endeavoured on several loan spells back to Spain before bidding farewell.
Earlier in the 2019/20 campaign, Baston had netted six goals in 20 Championship appearances for Swansea, making enough of an impact for Smith to deem him as the appropriate signing to make.
At the point of his arrival, Smith lauded the striker as being “hungry” to achieve, however by the summer, his time at Villa had ended with just two appearances, 16 minutes played and certainly no goals.
Borja Baston's Aston Villa career
Touches per game
4.5
Shots per game
0
Key passes per game
0
Dribbles per game
0
Error that led to shot
1
Goals
0
Figures via Sofascore
As highlighted in the table above, Baston’s time at Villa was a disaster and the hunger that he had displayed to Smith was nowhere to be seen, however since leaving, his form tells a different story.
What Borja Baston is doing now
After leaving Villa, Baston returned to Spain to sign for CD Leganes on a free transfer, where he took the time to rediscover his form slowly, scoring five goals in 35 appearances in the second-tier of Spanish football.
The 2021/22 campaign finally saw the forward come to life, as he signed for fellow La Liga 2 club Real Oviedo, and the goals began to fire in.
In that season, Baston netted 22 goals in 40 league appearances for Oviedo, coming joint-first in the league scoring charts to showcase his proficiency in the final third, after years of struggling to find his footing again.
Ollie Watkins
Borja Baston
2020/21
16
5
2021/22
11
22
2022/23
16
10
2023/24
9
3
Total
40
52
Figures via Transfermarkt
As portrayed in the table above, Baston actually outscored Villa frontman, Watkins, that campaign, and has managed to keep within reach of the Englishman since his exit from Villa Park back in 2020.
No one would have predicted that Baston would go on to hit 22 goals in a season after his time at Villa, however football is unpredictable and one right move can change the trajectory of a striker's form.