Robin Olsen has revealed to the official Aston Villa website that Bodymoor Heath shows they are a ‘massive’ club and left him stunned ahead of sealing a loan transfer from Roma.
Steven Gerrard made the Sweden goalkeeper his third immediate first-team addition since taking charge of the Birmingham natives. Olsen followed arrivals of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne, who made their Villans debuts in Saturday’s draw against Manchester United.
Olsen had spent the first half of the term on loan with Sheffield United. But the 32-year-old fell out of favour at the Championship side, with his last of 11 appearances on November 6.
He will now deputise Emiliano Martinez and Gerrard will want Olsen to keep the Argentine on his toes. Martinez has so far conceded 29 goals this season to five clean sheets after 19 Premier League appearances. Olsen had kept one second-tier shut out to 17 goals shipped.
Olsen also registered two clean sheets in seven Premier League appearances for Everton on loan from Roma last term. He shut out Leicester City and Brighton, before keeping Spain at bay during Euro 2020. His sole Blades clean sheet came against Wayne Rooney’s Derby.
Aston Villa training ground stunned Olsen ahead of Roma loan transfer
Aston Villa completed Olsen’s loan transfer from Roma on Tuesday, after which the goalie revealed how Bodymoor Heath had stunned him and shows how big a club the Villans are.
“When you come to the car park and see the building, you see that it’s a massive club,” he said. “I’ve heard how good it is. But when you’re inside and see the facilities, it’s amazing. You have everything you need to improve yourself and be as good as you can be.”
Aston Villa spent around £13m to build Bodymoor Health 15-years ago and spent a further £6m on a state-of-the-art performance centre last year. The Villans also spent £14m on a new academy complex at their training ground, which opened in 2019.
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