Here’s your daily dose of news, rumour and transfer gossip from B6;
A new week and another link to Tottenham’s Adebeyor. It’s the rumour that won’t go away and the concern is that with a Sherwood connection & the genuine fear that Benteke could leave, Villa may have to consider the former Arsenal & Man City striker as a short term replacement.
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For me, Adebeyor isn’t the short or even medium term answer. Whilst a talented player, he shows it far too infrequently and also carries some very public demons.
Could Sherwood harness the potential as he did during his brief stint as Spurs boss, or, would this be a Balotelli style disaster waiting to happen [granted without the huge fee]? We surely cannot afford to risk the latter, particularly as Benteke’s goals have been largely the reason we remain in the top flight?
Villa have also been down the path of buying “names” who are either past their best or simply looking to line their pockets. Adebeyor, for me, is one we should politely decline. It would be an absolute gamble that we simply could not risk backfiring.
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Further to the reports last week, Villa have identified Mason Holgate as a £1m pound signing to join the club as cover in the right back position. At 18 Holgate would very much still be one for the future, but has caught the eye with 22 appearances last season at Barnsley. He is expected to join imminently, having refused a new deal with the Tykes.
Villa have also been linked to Lorient front-man Jordan Ayew. The 23 year old Ghanaian scored 13 times last season and has attracted interest having left Marseille to further his career. Whilst no fee has been agreed, it’s believed the French side are holding out for a bid in the region of £8.5 million pounds, suggesting that only clubs from the top European leagues will be able to enter the race. Palace & Everton are also currently monitoring his availability.
There’s growing concern that Man United will cap a week of bold transfer statements by submitting a bid for Christian Benteke. Whilst I have written on more than one occasion as to why it doesn’t seem logical for our hitman to go to somewhere like Anfield; the rationale of a move to Old Trafford is more solid. So it’s probably tin hat time.
If a substantial bid is forthcoming, it will put Villa in a very difficult position. Sell now, avoid any “wantaway” player situation and reinvest promptly whilst still within the confines of pre-season. It’s not ideal, but it would resolve the issue, provide us with funds and the time to identify / secure a replacement.
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Alternatively, we sit tight and continue to rely on the £32.5m release clause doing its job. That, and also hoping that Benteke sees the benefit of playing week in, week out, the year before the European Championships.
What digging in may cause, however, is that we retain a player who’s heart and mind really lie elsewhere. This would hardly be cohesive to our attempts to avoid a repeat of previous seasons, which would only be made harder with our main goalscorer skulking around the placed.
Is there a right answer to any of the Benteke scenarios? Who knows. One thing is for certain, we are in for a fight to keep him in Claret & Blue.