Villa have today confirmed the signing of Ahmed Elmohamady from Hull City.
The Egyption international joins Villa on a 3 year deal & immediately travels onwards for Villa’s friendlies in Germany following a successful medical.
Whilst the debate around his worth and necessity have been simmering amongst fans at games & social media in recent days, his arrival does increase the likelihood of movement within the squad.
Alan Hutton’s future in particular, who regained stock in some quarters last term, now looks uncertain.
Elmohamady, who’s following on Twitter exceeds 1.06 million (the official Aston Villa account has only recent topped 1 million) has a massive international following. The former Hull & Sunderland player also commands a significant interest on Instagram, with over 500k followers, compared to Villa’s official presence only reaching 180k
Whilst social media profile is one thing – it’s what a player brings on the pitch that counts – you can read more about the wing back’s key facts and stats here.
In short, it’s the view of this blog that he offers another wide option, which is a position in which we have been all too inconsistent and lacking real strength in depth.
Whilst relegation with a poor Hull side recently tells a story, two successful promotions from the Championship (under Bruce) do bring balance to the debate. Additionally, two ACON wins in 2008 & 2010 bring further credibility.
Finally, at 29, with domestic and international experience in abundance- and at just £1 million – Villa have next to nothing to lose in adding him to the squad.
A Hull side that whilst poor was not as poor as the Villa side that was relegated the previous year!
A valid comment!