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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa are in pole position to sign Liverpool’s young winger Harry Wilson for a fee of £20m after manager Jurgen Klopp decided another loan spell wasn’t in their best interests – which has ruled potential suitors Newcastle United out of a deal.
What’s the word?
Villa boss Dean Smith has been on quite the spending spree this summer, bringing in ten new signings for well over £100m as they embark on their Premier League return following promotion via the Championship play-offs.
Wilson tasted defeat in that very final having been on loan at Derby County last season. The 22-year-old hugely impressed with 18 goals and six assists in 49 appearances for the Rams.
The Wales international has featured regularly for Klopp’s side this pre-season but it looks inevitable that things won’t extend into the regular season which begins in just over a week’s time as Liverpool start the 2019/20 campaign against Norwich.
Reports from Sky Sports suggest that the West Midlands club are the more likely destination for Wilson, who the free-spending Smith witnessed multiple times last season in the Championship. Villa were initially interested in him back in June.
Absolutely pointless
Wilson has certainly impressed during his youth career as well as in two of his three loan spells away from Anfield.
In 53 Championship appearances, the winger has netted 22 goals and provided seven assists for both Derby and Hull. His Premier League 2 returns are even more remarkable having scored 32 and assisted 14 goals in 60 matches.
Now appears to be the right time to leave the club from which he graduated – in order to pursue a regular first-team opportunity elsewhere, instead of constantly being sent out on loan as if he were a young Chelsea cast-off.
Villa’s continued interest in Wilson, however, is quite baffling. They’ve already re-signed Anwar El Ghazi following his successful loan spell last season and have also poached Jota from arch-rivals Birmingham City as well as securing the coup of Egypt star Trezeguet.
The Villans equally have promising winger Andre Green at the club who has dazzled in short spells this pre-season and was clearly in Smith’s thoughts following a recall from his loan at Portsmouth last term – he played 21 times in the Championship for Villa from January onwards.
That appears to be pretty healthy squad depth going into this upcoming Premier League campaign.
There’s no point spending for the sake of it – they could still do with a new goalkeeper as none of their current options have top-flight experience and potentially a striker to play behind club-record signing Wesley Moraes.
Villa are at risk of signing one too many players with Wilson potentially becoming their 11th addition this summer.
Regardless of how good he might be, they are at risk of repeating the failed exploits of Fulham who were relegated in April after they signed 12 new players for over £100m this time last year.
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