The Villa boss has ruled out making a rumoured £6 million move for Wednesday’s No. 1 in the January transfer window, but he is looking to add another keeper to his squad following the season-ending injury to Jed Steer.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has ruled out a potential move for Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood but admitted to the Birmingham Mail that he is keen to sign another shot-stopper in January.
A report in The Sun earlier this week claimed that Bruce was weighing up a £6 million bid for Westwood after previously signing him for Sunderland back in the summer of 2011 and since seeing him develop into one of the Championship’s top keepers at Wednesday over the past three seasons.
Current Villa no. 1 Pierluigi Gollini, who joined the club form Hellas Verona in July, made an infamously shaky start to his claret and blue career after committing high-profile errors against Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town in the opening month of the season, but the 21-year-old Italian has been in fine form since Bruce replaced Roberto Di Matteo in the dugout last month.
The former Hull City boss does still want to add another backstop to his squad in the winter transfer window after a recent long-term injury to Jed Steer left Mark Bunn as the only fit backup in the senior ranks, but he stressed that he will not be splashing out big money on Westwood.
“It certainly won’t be Keiren Westwood, I’ve seen that written everywhere,” Bruce told the Birmingham Mail. “I don’t know where that’s come from. It’s a difficult one because a player has just been injured.
“We’re looking because it’s not healthy just to have two at the moments. No names bandied about, certainly not Keiren Westwood.”
Whether Bruce wants to add genuine competition for the starting spot or is merely looking for cover remains to be seen at this point, but there is probably no need for him to spend as much as £6 million strengthening the position given Gollini’s recent performances and recognised potential.
The highly-rated Italian has recovered remarkably well from his early gaffes to help Villa go unbeaten in Bruce’s first six games in charge, conceding just five goals while noticeably growing in confidence.
Having turned down Juventus in the summer in favour of regular first-team football, the under-21 international is clearly well regarded within the game and now seems to be showing why people back in his homeland have billed him as Gianluigi’s Buffon’s potential successor for both club and country.
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