Premier League strugglers Aston Villa have left highly-rated goalkeeper Matija Sarkic out of their 25-man squad for the rest of the 2019/20 season.
If there is one position where Aston Villa have quality and quantity in abundance, it is between the sticks.
The excellent Tom Heaton might have seen his debut season brought to a premature end through injury but it’s testament to the depth at Dean Smith’s disposal that an England international has not been missed in recent weeks. Not as much as the pessimists expected, anyway.
January signing Pepe Reina has experience by the bucketload, a World Cup and Champions League winner. Norway international Orjan Nyland, meanwhile, has been a revelation in Villa’s run to the EFL Cup final. And then there’s Jed Steer, the understated understudy who played a starring role in last season’s play-off triumph.
But, if there is one negative to be had here, its that a wide array of options leaves Matija Sarkic on the outside looking in.
The 22-year-old is one of the most promising young shot-stoppers in Britain and returned to Villa Park recently after a hugely impressive loan spell at Livingston. Sarkic was arguably the Man of the Match as Livi beat Celtic for the first time in their 77-year history in the autumn.
But with Aston Villa announcing their 25-man Premier League squad for the rest of the season on Thursday, the Grimsby-born Montenegro international was conspicuous by his absence. Sarkic’s contract expires in the summer and it seems very unlikely, as things stand, that he will ever make a first-team appearance for the Midland giants.
And some Villa fans cannot shake of the feeling that Sarkic’s seemingly inevitable departure is a mistake waiting to happen.
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