Aston Villa are likely to wait until the summer transfer window before striving to reinforce Steven Gerrard’s defence with Stoke City enforcer Harry Souttar, according to The Athletic.
The Villans are among a number of Premier League clubs with an interest in Souttar. But he is unlikely to leave the Potters in the mid-season market after sustaining a long-term injury.
Souttar required surgery after rupturing his ACL while on international duty with Australia last month. The 10-cap enforcer is likely to miss the rest of the term while he recovers from the operation. It also came as a big blow to Stoke and their Championship promotion push.
Souttar had helped Stoke keep five clean sheets over his 16 appearances this season. They have since won two of five games without the 23-year-old, to slip to sixth in the standings.
Stoke boss Michael O’Neill hailed the impact Souttar had offered before the centre-half’s season ended abruptly. He stated, via Stoke on Trent Live: “Harry has been outstanding.”
Aston Villa face vast competition for transfer of Stoke star Souttar
Aston Villa are monitoring Stoke’s Souttar as they explore transfers for a new centre-half to strengthen Gerrard’s side. They also admire Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, but are unlikely to sign either in January, unless Kortney Hause or Manchester United loanee Axel Tuanzebe leave.
The Birmingham side could face strong Premier League competition for Souttar, regardless of the Potters’ promotion push, too. The Sun had reported before the Aberdeen-born star’s injury that Everton were preparing to step up their pursuit of the 6 ft 7 enforcer in January.
Everton had also sent assistant coach Duncan Ferguson to personally scout Souttar, who Brighton admire, as well. The Mirror, meanwhile, credited Wolves with an interest. Stoke on Trent Live additionally noted Tottenham Hotspur had likewise scouted him in October.
Stoke will likely be reluctant to sell Souttar to Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham, Wolves or Brighton in a summer transfer. He is also under contract until 2025. Souttar signed an £8k-a-week deal in February, before captaining the Staffordshire side four times this season.
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