Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden is a reported transfer target for Aston Villa.
Aston Villa will be looking to add quality and balance to their squad this month as manager Dean Smith aims for promotion to the Premier League.
The Mirror claim that the Championship side are interested in signing Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden, with rivals West Brom also keen on his services.
It is said that the Magpies player, who has started only four Premier League games this season, wants to leave the northeast outfit for personal reasons.
Villa are better off recalling their youngster Jordan Lyden from Oldham after the club’s academy graduate helped the League Two side knock Fulham out of the FA Cup over the weekend.
Despite Hayden being the more experienced out of the two in the second tier of English football, Hayden isn’t exactly a game-changing signing, so he isn’t someone you would pay over the odds for.
Added with that, there isn’t much difference, in terms of quality, between Hayden and Villa’s fringe players, i.e Henri Lansbury.
At best, Hayden would be played as a number 6, in front of the defence, and the likes of Conor Hourihane and Birkir Bjarnason already occupy those positions, much better options than the reported target.
At best, the former Arsenal man would be sitting on the bench, so Villa are better off nurturing their own rather than building up the wage bill once again only to get slapped in the face by FFP.
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