Aston Villa’s new signings are ready to make push for European football next season

National World - LocalTV

Aston Villa have made a series of strong signings this season, bolstering their squad in a bid to secure European football next year.  The club’s ambition is clear – to challenge for a spot in European competitions, and their new additions could help aid that push.

Transcript

00:00On to Aston Villa and obviously a bit of a transfer update. They've been ambitious in

00:06this January window, it has to be said. Obviously they had a bit of a clear-out in the summer

00:11to meet PSR and FFP regulations. They've seemingly looked at their position at halfway and said

00:18this is where we can go, we want to make sure we're signing players to ensure we get over

00:24the line. We've mentioned before that Champions League football next year might be very, very

00:29tough to achieve but certainly European places you feel Villa will strive for now with these

00:34signings. What's the latest you can tell us and how will these new faces bolster at Villa

00:39Park?

00:40Yeah, it's been a very busy transfer window for Aston Villa. Loads and loads of speculation,

00:45normally turns to nothing but this time things are happening in this window. Unai Emery trying

00:50to sculpt that squad to the best of his ability, obviously trying to progress as far as possible

00:54in the Champions League, hopes for a top-eight finish there to progress or through the play-offs

00:59to get through to the last 16 quarter-finals, semis, maybe even further if they can achieve

01:03their dreams. And then in the Premier League it's so, so tight for those European positions.

01:07Can they beat Manchester City, Bournemouth, Forest, Chelsea for the top four and Newcastle

01:12in there as well? Top five might be enough for Champions League football. Villa need

01:16to focus on themselves and do all they can and the transfer business is showing just

01:20that. The Daniel Marlon signing, we've not seen much of him just yet. He wasn't able

01:24to play in the Champions League because he wasn't registered for this phase but he will

01:28be able to play in the next rounds of the competition. Jadon Filagin leaving for Ipswich

01:32Town, £23m. That money spent directly on Marlon, I think a fantastic bit of business.

01:38Someone who's got high quality, probably a higher ceiling as well and can play in more

01:42positions as an out-and-out striker, even if they need. Andres Garcia coming in at right

01:47back, £7m or just under. What a bargain he could turn out to be. One of Levante's star

01:53players in the Spanish Segunda Division, one of the best defenders in that division

01:58for the start of this season. He can play at right back, centre-back if needed. He's

02:026ft1, so he's got that height for set-pieces. He can also be a threat on the counter-attack

02:06as well. Had quite a few goals in his last few appearances for Levante. Centre-back is

02:11the next area of priority. We saw Diego Carlos leave the club, Pau Torres' injury and then

02:16Tyrow Mings as well hobbling off against West Ham United. That's an area Villa are trying

02:21so hard to get a new player in. Loic Bardet seemed to be the man coming in from Sevilla,

02:27but the personal terms were an issue. Looks like it could be a loan deal without an option

02:32to buy. Plenty of other teams are in the conversation though. De Zazie has said he wants to join

02:37Villa. He's spoken to Unai Emery already. I think we can expect movement there. And

02:41then finally, before I lose my breath, Gial Felix, also from Chelsea, has been spoken

02:46about once again for a third successive transfer window. That couldn't be a loan if De Zazie

02:51joined. You can't have two domestic loans from the same club. So essentially a permanent

02:56deal could bubble before the end of the window.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended