Aston Villa have signed three defensive players this summer, as they are now being linked with West Bromwich Albion’s Ahmed Hegazi.
Aston Villa ended West Brom’s hopes of earning promotion to the Premier League last season when they beat their Midland rivals in the Championship play-off semi-finals.
And if recent transfer rumours are true then Villa may just wound the Baggies even further and dent their hopes of earning promotion ahead of the new campaign.
BBC Sport recently reported that Villa boss Dean Smith was in Egypt, along with Sporting Director Jesus Garcia, to watch two targets in action, including West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi.
The 28-year-old was a key player for Albion last season, and with Dwight Gayle returning back to Newcastle, Jay Rodriguez and Craig Dawson making Premier League moves, losing more key players would be disastrous for the Championship club.
They are now managed by former West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic, who would no doubt want to add more quality to his squad if he wants his team to challenge for the promotion places.
The Championship can be a seriously gruelling and unforgiving league. And with West Brom losing key players already, the last thing they need is to lose a player who was arguably their best performing centre-back last season.
Whilst question marks would still be asked as to whether Hegazi would be able to produce consistent performances in the Premier League, he would be a smart addition to Villa’s backline because of his experience.
Of course, if he commanded a big transfer fee then he wouldn’t be worth the punt, but given Villa’s need to add more defensive options to their backline, he may well just be a useful addition to the squad.
Either way, Villa have already inflicted damage on West Brom, and the last thing their supporters will want to see is one of their key players heading to their rivals in the Premier League.
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