Aston Villa was one of several top European clubs, alongside Real Madrid, FC Barcelone, Atlético de Madrid, and Newcastle United, that showed interest in 19-year-old Christian Michel Kofane before the Cameroonian centre-forward settled in Germany following his transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025 for a fee reported to be €5 million. Strong interest from Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Newcastle United emerged after his performances at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Barça made another approach for the forward in the winter. Kofane, who has 3 caps and has scored 2 goals for Cameroon, is under contract with Leverkusen until June 2029 and has a current market value of €22.00m, according to Transfermarkt.