Aston Villa: Carles Gil return would boost summer transfer activity

25-year old attacking midfielder Carles Gil still feels like a fairy in the footballing world.

In the midst of a grueling Championship campaign, where Aston Villa are in the mix for automatic promotion, I still can’t help but look into the future of the club’s squad next August.

Another summer of high player turnover beckons irrespective of whatever division the club is playing in. The likely exit of John Terry, Christopher Samba, Alan Hutton, Gabby Agbonlahor and Mark Bunn coupled with the return of loan player to their parent clubs ensures the marketing team will be busy creating more signing videos for their replacements!

The return of one such loan player, Josh Onomah, back to Spurs leaves Villa woefully short in the attacking midfield department. At the moment, Grealish’s form and position make him the most irreplaceable player in the squad.

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Onomah’s exit will be a loss, exacerbated if Grealish ever picks-up another serious injury, akin to the one he had this summer. Onomah is not a natural #10 – more of a box-to-box influencer, but he generally played well just behind the striker. His dribbling, close control and willingness to drive forward were a big part of Villa’s excellent October and early November.

Instead of having to source an external option to fill this coming vacancy (unclear of Pochettino would sanction a second consecutive loan move), I’m of the opinion that Carles Gil should be brought back into the fold.

One of precious few players to emerge with credit following the appalling 17-point season in 15/16, Gil scored a pair of beauties and generally never shirked his responsibility of trying to create openings, even when the rest of the team seemed disinterested. During Rémi Garde’s short-lived reign as manager, Gil often operated as the spearhead in a 4-4-2 diamond formation.

He is currently on loan at Deportivo La Coruña in Spain with an obligation to buy. The term ‘obligation’ seems to hint that he will become a permanent player for them but with the recent news coming out that they fired their manager due to poor results, the new man coming in may not wish to keep Gil beyond this season. Moreover, the sit in lowly 18th in the La Liga table, owning a paltry -27 goal differential. The club’s past financial troubles coupled with a relegation could see themselves priced out of Gil’s services.

It all remains unclear at this stage, but if Villa manage to go up, it won’t do the club any harm having another creative player in Gil who can dovetail with Jack Grealish. He proved during his age-22 and 23 seasons he is capable of playing in England’s top flight. Gil’s Aston Villa contract runs through summer 2019.

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