Aston Villa are struggling to sell want-away striker Ross McCormack due to his poor reputation and recent struggles
Few things can torpedo a player’s career like a combination of poor play, poor fitness, and most importantly a poor attitude. Even the best players can lose their places if they run in to this unholy trinity and Ross McCormack did just that last season with Aston Villa.
McCormack is currently on the market as manager Steve Bruce omitted him from the club’s recent trip to Germany to gear up for the season. The omission came after reports that he would be given a fresh start at the club this summer but that has failed to improve his standing with Bruce and club management.
Now for the second successive transfer window Aston Villa is struggling to sell off the striker. McCormack arrived last summer for a £12 million transfer fee and signed a four-year contract with the club. Things did not go well initially for the striker as his poor return on the pitch were compounded with a poor attitude and lack of commitment to training.
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In a bizarre incident in January, McCormack reportedly missed a club training session because the electric gates to his house would not open and he could not get his car out. McCormack maintains that this actually happened but photos showed that he could have easily hopped over his fence and taken some alternative means of transportation to training were he truly committed.
A loan move to Nottingham Forest was fraught with the same issues that McCormack had at Villa and it was just as unsuccessful on the pitch as his time with Villa. It appears that this summer another loan move may be the only option for both parties as they struggle to find a club willing to take a chance on someone with such a poor reputation.
Even if a club was to take that chance, Aston Villa would likely not receive a fraction of the £12 million they paid for McCormack as he has dragged down his value with his antics. The real tragedy in all of this is that the striker has been productive in the past and could have been the answer to Villa’s struggles in front of goal last season. In the previous season he scored 21 goals in 45 appearances for Fulham in the Championship which would have been good enough for half of Villa’s total in 2016-17.
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Regardless of what happens in the future with McCormack it is clear that he is not in Steve Bruce’s plans in any shape or form. The club will either sell him off to the highest bidder, even if that bid is extremely low, or hope that another club comes in with a loan bid at the very least. Aston Villa fans will simply have to wonder what could have been with McCormack had he kept his head on straight from the start.