Aston Villa and Newcastle United will be looking to push for Europe next season and probably battling for the same spots in the Premier League table.
But it also seems that they are going to go head-to-head for the same players during the summer transfer market.
One man that is on both of their transfer radar is James Tarkowski, who was relegated with Burnley this season.
The 29-year-old is out-of-contract at Turf Moor in June, which probably makes signing the English defender even more appealing to the likes of Newcastle and Villa.
Despite Burnley’s struggles this term, Tarkowski was still one of their star players and that was proven by the fact that he topped the list of players with the most blocks during the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
Tarkowski made 61 blocks from his 35 league games – nine more than the next player which was West Ham’s, Craig Dawson.
The nearest Aston Villa player on the list was Tyrone Mings with 30 blocks, whilst Fabian Schar topped Newcastle’s own list with 18.
Both Villa and Newcastle, at this moment in time, aren’t playing the possession-based football some of the top teams are playing, nor are they dominating matches in a consistent fashion.
They are still in progression mode and they are having to defend a lot more, so someone like Tarkowski becomes very important in that regard.
But, if either Newcastle or Villa can snap him up, then he would add much-needed value and experience to the side, and that without a transfer fee needed.
Plus, it has to be questioned, is Tarkowski better than what Villa and Newcastle already have?
One thing is for sure, he can make an argument to push into either of their XI’s for next season.
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