Would Dean Smith’s Aston Villa be in the top half of the Premier League table if they had a striker like Teemu Pukki?
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has admitted that he previously tried to sign Norwich City talisman Teemu Pukki as he plots a way to keep the Finland international off the score sheet at Carrow Road on Saturday, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
Norwich are a Premier League team these days and much of the credit for their top flight return has been laid at the door of sporting director Stuart Webber, whose ability to spot a diamond in the rough has helped the Canaries snap up a series of gems in the last two years.
Pukki arrived on a free from Brondby in the summer of 2018 and, since then, he has found the net 35 times in 50 league games with six of those coming in the Premier League.
If only Aston Villa, who have thrown away eight points from winning positions already this season, had a striker like Pukki to finish teams off.
“I had a look at him when I was Brentford coach, in all honesty,” said Smith. “He’s a good player, he scored a lot of goals last season.
“I’ve seen him play a number of times for Celtic as well when he was there. He certainly upped his level last season and then has started the season well this, scoring goals again.
“He’s a handful and one our centre-backs have to very wary of.”
While Pukki plundered a hat-trick past Newcastle United and stunned Manchester City with an outstanding all-action display, Aston Villa fans have been rather underwhelmed by the performances of new £22 million striker Wesley Moraes.
The Brazilian has two goals so far but he’s been too easily bullied by opposition centre-halves so far. A big performance is needed on Saturday as he looks to outshine Norwich’s number 22 and stop Smith wondering what might have been.
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