Aston Villa: Three moves for a successful January transfer window
By Josh Tonti
Tightening financial fair play restrictions limit big-money moves for Aston Villa Football Club this January. However, opportunity exists for improvement. We outline three transactions that represent a successful winter window for the claret and blues.
Jonathan Kodjia, Scott Hogan, Mile Jedinak, John Terry, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, André Green. All key Aston Villa players who have spent weeks at a time on the injury list.
Thanks to Villa executives, backroom staff, the Academy, and Steve Bruce, the club built up quietly impressive depth across most positions on the pitch. When fully fit, the club logs a healthy excess in midfield, fullback, and even the forward positions. However, further injuries threaten the sanctity of the promotion chase.
To build for both the short and long-terms, a successful January window is required. We outline three moves that represent good business for the club.
1. Loan-in/transfer-in a striker
In all likelihood, Jonathan Kodjia will not return for awhile, if at all this season. Even if he does, he should not be counted on to lead the line after successive ankle surgeries. The good news? Aston Villa still have the lightning-quick Scott Hogan and the up-and-coming 19-year old Keinan Davis.
The bad news? Scott Hogan had a stomach operation and is out until the new year. Keinan Davis, though extremely impressive, looks like he could fall apart at the end of matches after continuous fouling and a long string of games. Villa need a forward(s) reinforcement. Perhaps Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is the answer.
Next: Rushian Hepburn-Murphy close to a first-team return
More likely, however, is a temporary loan move. Who’s available? Manchester United’s James Wilson has been linked with Aston Villa before. Lewis Grabban, on-loan at Sunderland, can be recalled by parent club Bournemouth should a permanent deal be found. He may be out of Dr. tony Xia’s price range, though, considering other moves.
2. Loan James Bree to an EFL Championship (non-promotion contender) club
James Bree, 19, is toiling away with the Aston Villa reserves after his move from Barnsley in January 2017. I for one had him penciled in as the club’s most-likely right back going into the season. He might be the most technically-gifted fullback at the club currently, but Steve Bruce has opted for experience through the first third of the season.
Now? He’s definitely fourth-choice behind Ahmed Elmohamady, Alan Hutton, and Ritchie De Laet. Surely some bottom-half Championship club can use fullback help in the developing player, whose future remains soundly with Aston Villa, just probably not the first part of 2018.
3. Make a permanent move for Sam Johnstone
Whether or not Sam Johnstone is a number one goalkeeper for a Premier League club can be debatable. What isn’t, however, is that Aston Villa should absolutely make a permanent switch for the on-loan Manchester United ‘keeper.
Johnstone has once again been in great form this season, conceding just seventeen goals in nineteen matches, a 0.89 GAA. With several other Premier League and Championship clubs considering Johnstone, Villa executives would be wise to make him a permanent signing.
A move that could cost close to £5 million serves several purposes. For one, Bruce gets to keep the goalkeeper that he’s trusted since mid-January 2017. Johnstone has proved himself too. He is one of the elite goalkeepers at the Championship level. At worst, Villa miss out on promotion this year, but retain a solid goalkeeper for years to come, thus putting them right back in contention.
Best case scenario: Johnstone and Aston Villa achieve promotion back to the Premier League, giving the United goalkeeper a chance to prove himself in the top flight. He would still be competing with Jed Steer and quite possibly another signing. The Premier League T.V. revenues make the ~£5 million acquisition cost an after-thought next year. Akin to this past summer, Aston Villa could be set-up for a relatively-quiet January transfer window.