Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce continues his search for potential transfer targets. A number of Premier League outcasts have been linked to the claret and blue.
The Birmingham Mail asked, whether a swap deal between Villa striker Ross McCormack and Middlesbrough forward Jordan Rhodes could be on the table.
The Jordan Rhodes-to-Aston Villa rumors never seem to go away, do they? Frankly the deal is just swapping players who are struggling during the early parts of the campaign. It is imaginable that both players become integral to their team’s success in the second-half. While Ross McCormack is a more costly forward, he is also four years Rhodes senior (30 vs. 26 years old).
Interestingly enough, if Rhodes somehow found his way to Villa Park, he would be reunited with Rudy Gestede from their old Blackburn days. Together, the pair scored over 40 Championship goals in the 2014-2015 season.
Aston Villa have joined the race for a Leicester City teenage forward. Layton Ndukwu, 18, created quite the buzz when he scored twice against Liverpool in a U-23 match.
Video of one of his goals from inside his own half:
Can someone say, possible external replacement, should Rushian Hepburn-Murphy decide to leave?
Lastly, another Hull City goalkeeper has been linked with a move away. First it was the other Hull goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic, who was the subject of a move. This time Scotland international, Allan McGregor, is a target of manager Steve Bruce.
The thirty-four year old would be thought of as a security blanket for the young and error-prone Pierluigi Gollini.
Bruce is probably just doing his due diligence, however. One could be argue McGregor is not an improvement over incumbent back-up, Mark Bunn – whose contract runs out in the summer.