Aston Villa may need defensive reinforcements if their skipper is out for the full 12 weeks.
With summer signing John Terry out for up to 12 weeks with a broken metatarsal, Aston Villa’s defence will come under increased pressure just when they will be hoping to sustain a serious promotion push heading into 2018.
For now, Villa boss Steve Bruce has to make do with the players already at his disposal, with Chris Samba and the out-of-favour Tommy Elphick likely to get plenty of chances in the weeks ahead.
However, once January rolls around Villa have the chance to jump into the transfer market and bring in a player either permanently or – more sensibly in this case – on loan. And if Bruce is looking for a quality young centre-back who could help at a busy time of the season, he should look no further than his former club Manchester United.
Axel Tuanzebe may only be 19, but he has the innate talent and the confidence to slot into Villa’s back line and do a fine job at a point in the season when the ageing Chris Samba could struggle to play regularly.
It would be a win-win situation, with United more likely to allow Tuanzebe to leave for the second half of the season once they have Marcos Rojo back from injury, while Villa would get a hungry player who could follow in the footsteps of Sam Johnstone.
Villa worked wonders signing the goalkeeper on loan from Old Trafford and if they get Tuanzebe he could ensure there would be no need to rush Terry back too early.
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