Numerous Premier League sides were tracking Sheffield Wednesday’s Sean Clare – but Championship outfit Aston Villa might have won the race.
Could Aston Villa’s most impressive signing of the summer transfer window be a free agent with only four Championship starts to his name?
Villa need a goalkeeper, a left-back and a prolific centre-forward this summer so the addition of a young, largely unproven player who was on loan at Gillingham just a few months ago is unlikely to get the heart pumping.
But Aston Villa fans should be reminded that they have beaten off some rather substantial competition to sign Clare, who scored against Steve Bruce’s side for Sheffield Wednesday to cap a fantastic individual performance back in March.
TEAMtalk reported back in February that Everton, who have made it their mission to snap up some of the most highly-rated talents up and down the country, were hoping to land Clare on a free. So were a Tottenham Hotspur side who will form a substantial chunk of England’s starting XI at the World Cup in Russia.
Southampton, Leicester City and Norwich were keen too.
And the sheer level of interest should remind Aston Villa supporters that this is a far more impressive deal than it looks on paper.
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