Hoffenheim youngster Marvin Schwabe would arrive at Aston Villa with a big reputation, but so did Pierluigi Gollini.
Aston Villa’s stuttering start to the season was hardly helped by a series of maddening goalkeeping mistakes. The Birmingham Mail reported in February that needless errors had cost the club 11 Championship points, with Pierluigi Gollini, Mark Bunn and January loan signing Sam Johnstone all enduring their fair share of spills and slips.
Gollini, in particular, came under fire from many supporters. The young Italian, who had played less than 50 senior games for former club Hellas Verona, endured a baptism of fire in his first six months in English soil.
His inexperience, and inability to adapt to a new league, meant Gollini was often targeted by opposition teams as a potential ‘weak-link’. As such, he was shipped off back to Italy in January on an 18-month loan to Atalanta.
The experiment failed.
Therefore, it is a surprise that Villa would reportedly consider another young, inexperienced goalkeeper from oversees. Yet Bild claim that the Championship club are plotting a move for Germany under-21 shot-stopper Marvin Schwabe in the summer.
The Hoffenheim prospect is currently enjoying an excellent loan spell in the second division with Dynamo Dresden and has previously been likened to none other than Manuel Neuer for his composure in possession and ‘sweeper keeper’ tendencies.
Yet, like Gollini, Schwabe would arrive in English football as an unknown quantity.
Talent only takes you so far after all and, although Gollini was once labelled Gianluigi Buffon’s heir-apparent at Juventus, his inability to adapt to a new league prevented him from making the number one shirt his own at Villa.
Therefore, perhaps the club should target a more experienced candidate with Championship know-how in the bank.
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