Aston Villa signed striker Borja Baston on deadline day last month.
Paul Merson is baffled as to why Aston Villa decided to secure the signature of Borja Baston last month, as he labelled it as ‘desperation’, whilst speaking to Soccer Saturday (22/02/20 at 14:50 pm).
Villa are hovering above the Premier League’s relegation zone, and Merson feels, amid their ‘open’ style, all opposition teams need to do is ‘stick two or three men’ on Jack Grealish in order to stop Dean Smith’s side from playing.
On Saturday, Villa dropped more points and put in yet another abject performance when they were beaten 2-0 at fellow strugglers Southampton, who have now pulled further away from danger.
Baston, who arrived from Swansea City last month on deadline day, came on as a second-half substitute, as Merson was questioning earlier why on earth his former club signed him.
“The lad has come in from Swansea,” Merson told Sky Sports. “He doesn’t get in the team for Swansea, yet he is playing for Aston Villa in the Premier League.
“Do the sums. If he isn’t playing for Swansea, how is going to rip it up for Aston Villa? I might be wrong here, but it’s sort of desperation.
“It’s coming down to it, if you were playing against Aston Villa, you would just say ‘right, stick two or three players on Jack Grealish and let somebody else be spare, I don’t care who you let spare because they won’t hurt you’. And that’s the problem. Too open. They are too open.”
Prior to Wesley’s injury in January, Villa needed another striker to help the struggling forward at the time. His season-ending injury against Burnley made matters worse for Smith’s men.
With Keinan Davis also on the sidelines, at the time, that meant that Villa had no bonafide striker, as Mbwanna Samatta would join the club later on during the winter transfer window.
But Smith was keen to add another attacking face to his ranks, as the Midlands club opted to push for Baston’s signature from Championship side Swansea, with the Spaniard seemingly arriving on a free transfer with his contract at the Liberty Stadium running out at the end of the season.
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