The Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder is reportedly interesting Aston Villa – but not for the first time.
Seven years ago, Aston Villa stormed to the League Cup final with a midfield oozing guile and grit in equal measure, James Milner bombing forward and Stiliyan Petrov dictating play from deep.
In stark contrast, current midfield lynchpin Ashley Westwood has played a major role in two of Villa’s poorest performances in the second tier this season. He completed just 18 passes in a timid loss 1-0 at Norwich in December and, to further epitomise his ineffectiveness, the former Crewe captain posted another rather alarming stat in Villa’s recent defeat to Cardiff. In 45 first half minutes, Westwood touched the ball a grand total of three times.
Meanwhile, Dale Stephens continues to drive Brighton’s rise to the top of the Championship table with his all-round displays making him one of the league’s most in-form midfielders. It’s no surprise, then, that HITC sources tell us that Villa have tabled a £4 million bid for the 27-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
However, the Birmingham Mail claim that owner Tony Xia could have kept his chequebook in his pocket, if Villa’s previous owners had managed to force through a deal all the way back in 2012.
Stephens’ former club Charlton Athletic reportedly turned down a number of bids from the then-mid-table Premier League outfit four-and-a-half years ago, forcing Paul Lambert to eventually accept defeat and turn his attentions to, you guessed it, Ashley Westwood.
Can Villa finally right that particular wrong this month?
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