Steve Bruce remains the favourite to succeed Roberto Di Matteo at Aston Villa, with Manchester United’s second-string boss Warren Joyce being tipped to join him.
Steve Bruce remains the favourite succeed Roberto Di Matteo at Aston Villa, with Manchester United’s second-string boss Warren Joyce being tipped to join him as number 2 (Daily Mail).
The prospective pairing certainly won’t be short of contacts, and their coming together would likely leave Villa in a favourable position when it comes to landing United’s unwanteds – or even those with bright futures ahead of them on loan.
And with Bruce no stranger to recruiting players from his old stomping ground (Nicky Butt at Birmingham, Danny Welbeck at Sunderland and Robbie Brady at Hull City, to name a few), you’d fancy him to make use of his ties with the Red Devils at some stage.
Nicky Butt
One player who will perhaps be considered is goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, for whom Villa are said to have had a bid turned down in the summer (Daily Mail). Despite this, the Villans plumped for an ex-United youngster in Pierluigi Gollini instead – although the Italian has been far from convincing thus far, and had his place seized by Mark Bunn at Preston North End last week.
Johnstone previously impressed at Championship level during a loan spell at Preston North End, but is yet to feature under new United boss Jose Mourinho. With David De Gea and Sergio Romero ahead of him, it might not be long before the 23-year-old, who’s appeared three times for Joyce’s side this season, looks to fly the nest full-time.
Villa could be a safe bet.
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