Villa were awful without Kodjia and look in increasing need of reinforcements in January.
Two days into the New Year and the feeling of optimism has already been wafted away. Aston Villa’s 1-0 defeat to Cardiff City on Monday was as bad as they have played in Steve Bruce’s tenure and it wasn’t just the calamitous nature of Joe Ralls’ first-half winner, scrambled home from a dreadfully-defended set-piece, that will headline the fans’ concerns.
In the absence of talismanic top scorer Jonathan Kodjia, who could miss a further six games due to his African Cup of Nations commitments with the Ivory Coast, Villa were toothless in attack, registering just three shots on target in 90 minutes.
In his place, Ross McCormack once again failed to prove his worth as a lone striker meaning he has now scored just once in his last 14 appearances while Rudy Gestede’s impending switch to Middlesbrough leaves Bruce worryingly light in the goalscoring department.
Therefore, this should spur Villa on to make turn their links with red-hot Brentford striker Scott Hogan into something more tangible.
GetWestLondon reports that the Bees, who owe 14 of their 32 Championship goals to the prolific forward, are unwilling to accept any offer below £15 million, a fee that would exceed the amount Villa paid Bristol City for Kodjia and concurrently smash the second tier transfer record.
Owner Dr Tony Xia claimed on Twitter that Villa are in negotiations for up to three potential incomings in January while insisting that the squad requires “minor tweaks” rather than reconstructive surgery.
Therefore, it would be no surprise if Villa’s dire attacking performance in the absence of Kodjia resulted a firm bid for Hogan in the coming days.
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