Some surprise breaking news this morning has confirmed that Aston Villa have completed the signing of Chelsea’s Ross Barkley on an out of the blue loan deal.
Given it’s been well documented that Steve Bruce is shopping in the loan market since spending the majority (if not all!) of his ‘£35m budget’ on Wilson, Lewis and a few ‘frees’ that never actually cost nothing, this is a deal I would’ve liked to see us pursue.
Maybe we did have a look, but the speed that Villa appear to have got this one done suggests they’ve acted incredibly fast since he was made available by Frank Lampard.
Bruce did rightfully state last week that we “can’t keep collecting players”, insisting that some may need to move on before we can start signing again, however a loan deal for a player who could’ve added exactly what we lack in midfield could’ve been ideal.
Barkley has been in and out of the Chelsea side for a few seasons now, but he has that ability to drive through midfields, break the lines and add that explosiveness to sides that we lack.
We seem to be in the market for a striker and a centre-back, however I’m sure many Mags will agree that it’s our midfield that’s looked particularly poor in our last two league games.
I’m not saying Hayden is all of a sudden too limited and Shelvey not a talented player, but they sometimes lack that dynamism and spark needed to unlock the door or unsettle teams.
One can pass and the other can tackle, but neither carry the ball well at all – and that’s what we sometimes need to burst through midfields and release our pace in attack.
A very good signing for Aston Villa, who are building a very good squad after keeping Grealish and signing Watkins, Traore, Martinez and Cash for a combined £75m!
Hopefully we take more than just a look at fellow Chelsea mifielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek now Lampard has hinted at a loan move for the English international.
We certainly need something different in midfield.
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A Total Over Rated player more sideways or back passes he aint got the ability to go past a defender
Billo(Quote)