Harold Moukoudi has shone in Ligue 2 for Le Havre but Aston ViIlla failed to bring him to the Championship in the summer transfer window.
Harold Moukoudi left no one in any doubts about why he decided to turn down a move to Aston Villa before the August transfer deadline.
According to The Mirror, Villa wanted to sign the 20-year-old Le Havre defender on loan with a view to a £10 million deal. But, speaking to Francebleu, Moukoudi indicated that the rather direct style of play employed by manager Steve Bruce put him off a move to the Midlands.
“Aston Villa? I had the feeling that their football and ours were not the same. I went there to hear what the coach had to say to me. I took the time to think and I chose to stay in France.”
Now, Moukoudi is renowned in France for his modern, ball-playing style – attributes that may have been compromised had he joined an Aston Villa team who were hardly among the Championship’s most free-flowing teams.
But, heading towards the January transfer window, the fact that Villa have replaced Bruce with Dean Smith should only stand them in good stead if a move for Moukoudi is still on the cards – and it should be given their lack of centre-back options.
Smith, in stark contrast to Bruce, is famed for his free-flowing style with plenty of emphasis placed on playing out from the back. This would suit the 20-year-old Moukoudi down to the ground, and that’s without mentioning the whole host of young players who have come on leaps and bounds under the former Brentford boss.
Moukoudi, who is still playing Ligue 2 football with Le Havre, is out of contract in the summer of 2019 so maybe a cut-price deal is on the cards.
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