Aston Villa paid £26.5m to sign Tyrone Mings from Saturday’s Premier League opponents Bournemouth in July.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe believes Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings has all the qualities to play for England as he prepares to come up against a player he sold just weeks ago, while speaking to Sky Sports.
Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Aston Villa paid a club-record £26.5 million to sign Mings in July after an injury-hit three years at the Vitality Stadium (the Guardian). But after just one game, the 26-year-old has already started to justify that eye-watering investment.
Mings was outstanding during Villa’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday’s Premier League opener in North London. No player in the entire division made as many clearances (17) on match-day one.
Despite allowing Mings to leave for Villa Park, first on loan and then on a permanent basis, Howe admits he is a huge fan of a player he signed from Ipswich Town in the summer of 2015.
“Tyrone Mings has got all the attributes (to play for England),” Howe said as Bournemouth prepare to take on Dean Smith’s side tomorrow.
“He’s been unfortunate with injuries (on the south coast). He was never able to get that run in the team that he wanted.
“My players know how good Tyrone Mings is, having trained with him over a long period of time. We know him well, he knows us well.
“There’s no doubting his qualities as a player. Very good on the ball, very athletic, very strong and very good in the air.”
Bournemouth have a brilliant young defender of their own right now in Nathan Ake, who was apparently valued at £75 million when Everton came calling during the transfer window (the Sun, 7 August, page 50).
It will be interesting to see whether the Dutchman or the Englishman comes out on top at on Saturday.
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