The 22-year-old midfielder could reportedly move from Aston Villa to Nottingham Forest before the transfer deadline.
If Aaron Tshibola was struggling to break into Aston Villa’s starting XI in the first half of the season, his prospects have hardly been aided by the January arrivals of Henri Lansbury and Conor Hourihane.
Therefore, the Birmingham Mail reports that the midfielder could leave Villa Park just six months after signing, with Nottingham Forest joining Celtic and Rangers in the battle for his signature.
This makes something of a mockery of the £5 million fee Villa paid Reading for the 22-year-old in the summer, as reported by the Daily Mirror, but, having played 90 minutes in just one league game since Steve Bruce took over in October, Tshibola clearly has no immediate future in the Villa midfield.
However, his omission has been a source of bewilderment among some Villa supporters, especially after he demonstrated the steel and tenacity hitherto lacking in a weak midfield during their 2-0 FA Cup third round loss at Tottenham.
Hourihane and Lansbury are creators rather than destroyers and, with age catching up to Mile Jedinak, Villa simply do not have another player capable of replicating Tshibola’s energy or tenacity in the tackle.
And their loss could be Forest’s gain. Only bottom of the table Rotherham United have conceded more regularly than Gary Brazil’s plummeting side while the club’s most effective defensive midfielder, Chris Cohen, has not featured for over two months due to injury.
Therefore, Tshibola could at least offer a semblance of protection to an overly-exposed back four. If the former Reading youngster is willing to check himself in to the City Ground that is.
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