Aston Villa could see Lyon striker Moussa Dembele as the ideal replacement for Danny Ings this month, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Villa linked with Dembele signing

In recent times, the 26-year-old Frenchman has found himself linked with a move to Villa Park, having caught the eye greatly for the Ligue 1 side down the years.

Dembele has an impressive record of 69 goals in 160 appearances for the French giants, not to mention bagging 51 in 94 during his time at Celtic.

It doesn't look as though Villa's interest in the striker has gone away yet, following a fresh update.

The Latest: Possible Ings replacement?

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones claimed that Dembele could be seen as the best replacement for Ings, who has moved to West Ham:

"It’s a really interesting option. He’s one of the names that we floated at the start of the window as an option for somebody when they were desperate for a striking situation to be resolved.

"I think if you’re looking for somebody to replace Ings now in that frontline, Moussa Dembele would certainly be capable of that."

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The Verdict: Upgrade on Ings?

It is important that Unai Emery brings in a new striker this month, mainly in terms of squad depth, and Dembele would be an exciting addition, with his aforementioned goalscoring record summing up his pedigree.

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In fact, the Lyon man could easily prove to be an upgrade on Ings, considering he is our years his junior and has been described as 'excellent' by Brendan Rodgers during their time at Celtic.

Looking at their underlying statistics, Dembele actually scores higher than Ings for every single attacking metric except for assists per 90 minutes, while he also wins out in many of the possession-based numbers, such as dribbles and pass completion.

The £66,000-a-week-earning Dembele could help take Villa up another gear in the second half of the season, at a point where Emery is threatening to build a formidable team, bringing more firepower to a side that has only scored 23 times in 20 Premier League outings this season.