Harold Moukoudi
The 20 year old Le Havre defender has been the centre of plenty of social media speculation, with the £10 million rated player reported to have been in Birmingham undergoing a medical.
What is known is that the player is now back in France and was been spotted training alone this evening (a sign of his commitment rather than isolation) as he apparently weighs up a decision.
The highly rated youngster is being courted by Villa, with Celtic and Middlesbrough cited as outsiders for his signature. Moukoudi seems to have an active agent, with a plethora of sides linked with the rising talent.
Villa though apparently lead the chase, with the offer of a loan with a view to a permanent move on the table. Any financial outlay would see the club pay an initial ‘loan fee’, concluding any deal with a figure substantially less than the £10 million valuation.
Villa, currently exploring a range of puzzling defensive choices already this term, will presumably then agree to let Tommy Elphick move out on loan.
Tommy Elphick
With rumours yesterday that QPR were showing an interest, today news emerged that Bruce’s former club Hull had made enquiries.
Any move seems contingent upon Villa agreeing a deal for a replacement (i.e. Moukoudi), despite the former Bournemouth captain being largely a peripheral figure under the current regime.
Jordan Lyden
Lyden risks acquiring the unfortunate academy trait of bursting onto the scene with promise, only to then become an obscure figure due to form, favour and [mostly] injury. Indeed, his career path could arguably veer close to becoming compared to that of current Blues loanee Gary Gardner. But hopefully not…
With just eight senior appearances under his belt since his debut in 2016, and at 22 years of age, Lyden is fast approaching a crucial period in his career. Indeed, its now a phase of his development which will hopefully see this talented midfielder push on to stake a claim for the first team. Technically, Lyden is highly regarded and is a prominent figure within Villa’s Under-23 side.
Whilst the future is never certain for such players, Lyden is reported to have the option to get valuable first team experience away from Villa Park. Burton Albion and Port Vale are the suitors, pushing to seal a loan move before the deadline at 5pm tomorrow.
Don’t be surprised if this proposed signing doesn’t happen, there’s every chance that we won’t sign anyone before tomorrow evening. Bruce has been hinting as much. So on that basis I think we will be lucky to finish mid table and we can forget promotion, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt but no longer, Bruce has lost it and needs to go
Jordan Lyden will be another Jonathon Hogg. Hogg had bags of potential but no villa manager ever gave him a chance. He’s done brilliantly at Huddersfield and good on him. Lyden is just as good and deserves a chance which unfortunately will never be given to him at least whilst BRUCE is in CHARGE and andre greens loaning sums it all up. #BRUCEOUT