With Villa having completed their substantive business in advance of the October 5th transfer deadline, it has been a relatively quiet couple of days in terms of player movements.
With Villa emphatically sweeping aside Liverpool (7-2), some may have also missed that Jota left Villa Park after terminating his deal after just 8 appearances.
The injury hit 29 year old Spaniard has since joined La Liga side Alaves on a free transfer.
ORJAN NYLAND
Embed from Getty ImagesNext out of the door at B6 is Norwegian stopper Orjan Nyland.
Nyland joined Villa at a tricky time, with a woeful defence in front of him and as Villa lurched from one debacle to another in the Championship, he was frequently left exposed.
A number of high profile blunders didn’t help, including the now infamous Hawk-Eye incident against Sheffield United during the Premier League’s first game post-lockdown.
Nyland did though enjoy some positives in a Villa shirt and may reflect what might’ve been.
The 30 year old was a generally reliable shot stopper and formed part of a Villa side that successfully navigated itself to the Carabao Cup final in 2019. A fine duo of displays against Leicester City (Semi-Finals) will be marked down by many as his high in a Villa shirt.
Nyland’s (and indeed the team’s) performances stood in contrast to deteriorating league form, which saw Villa survive on the final day of the 2019/20 season.
Nyland, was a trier, professional and clearly had ability. However, with the arrival of Emi Martinez from Arsenal as number 1, Jed Steer appears the most competent back-up whilst Tom Heaton recovers from a bad ACL injury.
Though Villa also have the option of forgotten Croatian international Lovre Kalinic, Nyland couldn’t feasibly settle for being fourth choice.
He leaves Villa park immediately having made 36 appearances since joining the club in 2018; we wish him well.
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