Aston Villa have been linked with a whole host of veteran players this summer.
Aston Villa may have raised eye-brows with their signing of John Terry, but Steve Bruce’s transfer policy this summer looks to be aimed solely at the short-term.
Villa have already snapped up Terry, and their other targets suggest that the claret and blues are targeting experience over youth.
Villa have also been linked with Chris Samba, Glenn Whelan, Peter Crouch and Daryl Muphy – with Bruce on the look out for new additions.
While all of the quartet would unquestionably be good additions at Championship level, there has to be question marks over the long-term success of Villa’s transfer policy.
Many of Villa’s targets may be good for the next season, but regardless of what happens big changes will have to made next summer.
There simply is no way that Villa will be able to build for the future with a team containing Terry, Samba, Whelan, Crouch and Murphy.
And although experience can be vital, Villa may be taking a risk by attempting to bring in so many players who are past their peaks.
If Villa get promoted back to the Premier League, then the experienced recruits are likely to need to be replaced by younger options, and if Bruce’s side fail to go up, then they may have to be offloaded – due to their wage demands.
And that mean Villa’s short-term planning this summer could prove very problematic at a later date.
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