Aston Villa should not hesitate to become the latest club to target Yaya Toure if the Villans are promoted out of the Championship.
After a couple of disappointing seasons, Aston Villa could be just three games away from ending their exile from the Premier League with the first-leg of their play-off semi-final with Middlesbrough coming up this weekend.
Should the Villans get promoted, Steve Bruce will need to waste little time in getting his targets identified as the uncertainty that comes from a play-off campaign and a World Cup will surely make life a lot more difficult for the Villa boss.
Villa have a decent squad, but several of their vital players are only on loan, while John Terry’s current contract expires at the end of the season so it would appear that there is no guarantee that he will remain at Villa Park beyond this term.
Therefore, Bruce perhaps needs to target some big names to give the Villans that additional quality that will help enormously if they manage to get themselves back playing at the highest level next term.
And one player that Villa must enter the race for in the upcoming window is Yaya Toure. The Daily Mirror reports that the likes of Everton, Wolves and Burnley are all eyeing a move for the 34-year-old – and if they feel that they have the potential to convince Toure to join them on a free transfer, then a promoted Villa side would be foolish not to consider their own bid.
Toure currently earns £220,000-a-week at the Etihad Stadium, according to Spotrac, but it seems incredibly unlikely that he will get anything like that wage at his next club, so Villa should certainly think about making an offer.
The midfielder has played more of a peripheral role this term, but that is in a City side that have to be considered one of the greatest of the Premier League era – he could still do an incredible job as a focal point for a side lower down the table.
He has scored 82 goals in just over 300 games from the middle of the park during his time with the Cityzens. That is a frightening return, and should convince Bruce to push for the Villa board to target the playmaker given that he is available on a free transfer.
Villa’s deal to sign Terry on a free transfer at the back end of his career will go down as one of their best masterstrokes if he guides them to promotion this season. And if he does see them across the line, Villa should follow that up by targeting Toure this summer in the hope that he will continue to prove just why he has to be considered one of the greatest players the Premier League has seen.
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