The Aston Villa man was a big fan of Newcastle United’s mercurial striker.
Aston Villa’s Henri Lansbury
Henri Lansbury participated a Q&A session for Aston Villa’s match day programme for last night’s game against Queens Park Rangers, and shared who his footballing idol was growing up, as reported by the Birmingham Mail, and his selection might just surprise a few.
The 26-year-old midfielder moved to Villa Park from Nottingham Forest in January, for a fee believed to be in the region of £2.75 million, but has so far failed to live up to high expectations.
He has not yet registered either a goal or an assist in 13 outings for Steve Bruce’s side thus far.
His most notable contribution in a Villa shirt came at St James Park when he scored an own goal during his side’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in February.
And the Magpies fans let their feelings concerning Lansbury be known, with their ill-feeling towards the Villa man stemming form his time at the City Ground, when he played a huge part in the sendings off of both Paul Dummett and Jonjo Shelvey.
But Lanbury appeared to put the bad blood aside, when sharing his footballing idol from his younger years.
The Birmingham Mail quote the midfielder as choosing Newcastle legend Tino Asprilla as his inspiration when he was growing up, explaining how he ‘loved his cartwheels’, during a Q&A session for Villa’s official match day programme.
And Villa fans will be hoping that Lansbury can channel his inner-Asprilla over the coming weeks, and help push his side into contention for the play-off spots.
Tino Asprilla in action during his Newcastle days
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