A round-up of the latest news from in and around Villa Park;
As the close season approaches and with our need to re-build for The Championship pretty obvious, transfer targets are starting to emerge.
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The latest link is to 25 year old striker Kane Hemmings. The Dundee striker has scored 25 goals this team and has formed a strong partnership with Greg Stewart. Owing to this impressive form, both find themselves nominated for the Scottish PFA Award as a result.
Hemmings has spent the better part of his career north of the border, but was a relatively local lad, originally from Burton-upon-trent.
One worry might be that whilst his recent form has caught the eye, he was amongst a group of players released by Barnsley at the end of the 2015 campaign having struggled to hold down a place.
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A surprise link for the Villa job has emerged in terms of Gus Poyet. It has been reported that whilst Poyet is tipped to get the Nottingham Forest post, vacated by Dougie Freedman, he has been on Hollis’ radar.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Uruguayan has applied in a bid to rebuild his managerial reputation in England. His stint at The Stadium of Light being particularly poor.
According to the report, Poyet was or is amongst the considerable list of candidates for the Villa role. Intriguingly an outside bet for the Forest job also includes our old foe Martin O’Neill…
Given Poyet’s struggle with Sunderland it would be real shock to see him take up a position at Villa Park. Not to mention a concern.
Turkish side Besiktas has been linked with a deal to take Idrissa Gueye from Villa. Whilst Gueye, or ‘Gana’ to his mates, was an early season highlight, his form was indifferent following injury.
Whilst some statistics were promoted around his qualities breaking up play, aside from this, Gana has appeared often quite limited. Indeed, comparisons to Leicester City’s machine Kante are certainly wide of the mark on the evidence witnessed.
Although Gana has not been the worst offender in a disastrous Aston Villa season, he’s not done so much that reasonable offers should be dismissed out of hand. If the right money comes in, this could certainly be put to good use reinvigorating the squad ahead of a completely different challenge next term.
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