Axel Tuanzebe: A Villa Man Yet Again?

At the end of this term, Manchester United CB Axel Tuanzebe will have spent 18 months playing on loan for Aston Villa, and recent reports have surfaced suggesting that may very well continue.

As first reported by the Sun, Manchester United seem open to loaning Tuanzebe back to Aston Villa next season, regardless of what division the club is playing in. Whether or not Dean Smith has Tuanzebe in his plans or not, is a different story.

Fellow Claret Villan Dean Caffrey has called for the loan-ins to be tempered this summer, in hopes of developing our youth and permanent deal players. I wholeheartedly agree with him, in almost every case except Tuanzebe.

Let’s go into the hypothetical that Aston Villa return to the Premier League next season. Loaning in Tuanzebe (again) would provide the team with a centre-back that has been around the camp for 1.5 years and has an understanding with his fellow teammates already. This would be of paramount importance, especially since Aston Villa would likely be doing a lot of defending as a newly promoted side. (We can’t all just spend a ton of money and jump right into the fray like Wolverhampton.) Keeping games close and getting some points under the belt early on in the campaign would be paramount in avoiding the drop back down.

Conversely, in the hypothetical that Aston Villa do not earn promotion, they are going to need a strong defense for a very similar reason. FFP will likely rear its ugly head again, and the club may be forced into selling some of our best players to free up funds. Keeping some semblance of cohesion at the back by bringing Tuanzebe back to pair with Chester could be enough to stabilize the team until they can get their feet under them.

No matter what happens at the end of this season, Aston Villa supporters should regard this as positive news that should only  serve to benefit the club. UTV