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Aston Villa: What next for Ross McCormack?

By Angus Boyle

GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 14: Ross McCormack of City during the round 16 A-League match between the Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City at Central Coast Stadium on January 14, 2018 in Gosford, Australia. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images)
GOSFORD, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 14: Ross McCormack of City during the round 16 A-League match between the Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City at Central Coast Stadium on January 14, 2018 in Gosford, Australia. (Photo by Tony Feder/Getty Images) /
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Ross McCormack’s future at Aston Villa is uncertain after reports suggest the striker is happy to stay in the A-League with Melbourne City.

The Scottish international has been playing in the A-League on loan as an injury replacement for City’s Bruno Fornaroli. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, McCormack’s loan was set to expire in late January.

However, it’s also mentioned in the same article that City are now looking to extend that loan period until the end of the A-League season. 9 News Melbourne have reported that McCormack has said that if a deal can be done, he’ll stay at City.

McCormack said “The chance is there for me to finish the season and if Melbourne City FC can create a deal with Aston Villa FC, I’ll definitely stay.” This makes a return to Villa seem unlikely, despite a lack of senior options up front for the Villains.

Scott Hogan is currently Villa’s most experience striker available for selection. He has scored in the last two Championship games, but the next options for Steve Bruce are Keinan Davis and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy. Having some senior competition, as well as youth, battling it out for the striker position/s would benefit the side. But it seems that McCormack is not on Bruce’s radar.

If Hogan was to get injured, plenty of pressure would be placed on the youngsters to perform, which doesn’t always pay off, as seen by Davis’ tough time since December.

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Having McCormack in the squad wouldn’t be bad for the club, however the best option would probably let him keep playing and performing in the A-League to push his value back up.

Ross has scored 13 goals in 15 games this season with the majority of those strikes coming from set pieces. For Villa to have a prolific free kick and penalty taker would be great, but we already have Snodgrass, Jedinak and others just as capable.

Just a few weeks ago, McCormack suffered a knee injury, initially thought to be a torn ACL, however he was cleared of any serious damage and played in the next game.

Now, he is back to form as the quickest player to score 13 goals in their debut A-League season. However, 13 goals in the A-League is very different to the equivalent in The Championship.

If Villa and City do come to some sort of deal, the move for McCormack to go from Villa to City could be the best option for all parties.

Next: Has Dr. Tony Xia changed his transfer strategy?

The downside is the fact that due to the A-League’s transfer regulations, Villa may not get much for McCormack. Where he ends up is uncertain, but the key for Villa is how much they can sell McCormack for. The club’s not going to make back £12 million but getting another player off the books will be key to helping the team deal with Financial Fair Play restrictions in the future.

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