According to Bolavip Brazil, Villa are one of several European clubs keeping tabs on the 24-year-old ahead of the January transfer window, though no offer has yet been made and there is no negotiation currently under way with Cruzeiro. The Birmingham club first monitored Kaio Jorge last year but held off making an approach, before West Ham had a move fall through in January.
Aston Villa's history with the player runs deeper than a passing glance. Scouts watched Cruzeiro face Grêmio last year in a match that also featured winger Alysson Edward, whom Villa signed shortly afterwards, and Kaio Jorge appears to have stayed on the club's shortlist ever since.
The forward has continued to build his case for a return to Europe following a difficult spell at Juventus earlier in his career. He is Cruzeiro's top scorer again this season with 17 goals in 40 appearances, following 26 goals in 46 games last term, and has been included in Carlo Ancelotti's preliminary Brazil squad for the national team's first friendlies since the World Cup.
Villa face considerably more competition for his signature this time. Bolavip reports that Milan and Benfica have already made enquiries, while Fiorentina and Bayer Leverkusen are also interested, and Bayern Munich have previously been credited with monitoring the striker.
Cruzeiro, for their part, have moved to protect their asset by renewing Kaio Jorge's contract and are said to have no intention of making a sale straightforward. The Brazilian club is understood to view a strong fee as the price of doing business, given his form has now yielded 43 goals across his last 86 appearances for the club.
For now, nothing is concrete with any of the interested parties, and Bolavip's report frames January as the earliest realistic window for a transfer to materialise. Should Villa's interest develop into a formal approach, they will find Cruzeiro in a position of strength to negotiate a substantial fee.
Kaio Jorge's stock has fluctuated since he first left Brazil for Europe. He arrived at Juventus from Santos as a highly rated teenage prospect but struggled to make an impact in Turin, eventually returning home to rebuild his career at Cruzeiro, where he has re-established himself as one of Brazilian football's most productive forwards.