Aston Villa: A case of when, not if, Neil Etheridge arrives?

Is Cardiff City’s Player of the Year a certain transfer for Aston Villa?

On Monday, the identity of Aston Villa’s goalkeeper target was identified. A weekend rumor that the club was willing to part with Lovre Kalinic on loan sparked intrigued among Villa faithful? Were they in for Jack Butland? Joe Hart? A potential foreign transfer?

WalesOnline, Monday, published a story that states Villa had an opening bid of £8 million rejected for the services of Cardiff City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge.

Etheridge, 29, is the Bluebirds’ reigning Player of the Year in a relegated Premier League season.

As such, the footballing pride of the Philippines is keen on a return back to England’s top flight. Fulham, also relegated, were knocked back by club and player in the same report.

Similar to many of Villa’s rumored targets, Etheridge also has a working past with manager Dean Smith and goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler. The trio were at Walsall together for a few months in 2015 before Smith left for the Brentford job.

Villa Verdict:

Another goalkeeper, huh?

It’s clear, at this point, the Villa coaching staff is not sold on Kalinic whatsoever. Which is strange, because they spent big money on him in January! It just gets tiring after the aforementioned Kalinic, Ørjan Nyland, and André Moreira were all brought in during the last 12 months. That doesn’t even include the team’s play-off hero – Jed Steer – who was recalled from loan duty in January.

My fear isn’t that Etheridge isn’t good. On the contrary, actually: he played really well in the Premier League, starting all 38 matches. But spending £10m+ on a position that isn’t a huge need is kind of risky. Then again, it’s not my money, either.

I just worry Kalinic goes down the Pierluigi Gollini path and excels elsewhere. Gollini played reasonably well for a 21-year-old ‘keeper, saw Di Matteo get sacked in 2016, and was discarded by the club when Bruce took over. Now he backstops a Champions League-bound Atalanta side (3rd in Serie A) and is an Italy National Team member.

Oops.