Will Aston Villa shatter the club’s transfer record by signing Stoke City and England goalkeeper Jack Butland?
Jack Butland is the most sought-after goalkeeper among Premier League clubs looking for a young upgrade. The 26-year-old and England international is coming off a Player of the Year season with Stoke City after relegation from the Premier League in the 2017/2018.
He’s a cut above the Championship and the player desires a move back to England’s top flight. Problem is, however, Stoke are rightfully holding out for twenty million+ pounds for their star ‘keeper.
We heard last week that Dean Smith and Neil Cutler are interested in Neil Etheridge at Cardiff City.
But Monday afternoon Gregg Evans over at BirminghamLive dropped this tweet out of nowhere:
Aston Villa are in for Jack Butland. Stoke want big money but #avfc will test their resolve. Expecting a bid this week.
— Gregg Evans (@greggevans40) June 10, 2019
The Sun posted a similar story thereafter:
Aston Villa are ready to bid £20m for Jack Butland this week. [Sun] #avfc
— villareport (@villareport) June 10, 2019
Villa Verdict:
Oh, boy. Any move for Butland would surely shatter the Villa transfer record that was Darren Bent’s arrival from Sunderland for around £18 million. Butland is an awesome goalkeeper, but would it be a wise use of funds?
If the club can still fill the rest of its needs – of course!
But Tyrone Mings (~£15 million) needs signing. As does another centre-back, a left-back, at least one midfielder, another winger, and possibly two strikers. That’s a lot of business to be done, and possibly a lot of money that needs spent. The claret and blues won’t get much in return for player sales, either. So don’t count on those amounting to much as the likes of Jonathan Kodjia, Birkir Bjarnason, Henri Lansbury, and Scott Hogan were under indifferent form this season.
I’d rather Villa roll with Kalinic/Steer/Nyland for a year as a ‘wait-and-see’ strategy, but if you can get Butland, absolutely go for it.
So long as the other needs are met as well.