Josh Onomah is on loan from Spurs to Aston Villa for the entirety of the 2017/18 campaign – and has largely impressed so far.
Aston Villa have two Premier League loanees that Steve Bruce is desperate to sign in the January transfer window. The problem is, where do Villa find the funds with Financial Fair Play sanctions hanging over their head?
Bruce has made no secret of his desire to land Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone on a permanent deal and the Geordie gaffer would like to keep Tottenham-owned Josh Onomah around for the long-term too.
“We’ll try and break the bank for him,” Bruce said in quotes reported by The Sun after last month’s 2-1 home win against Fulham. “But we know Spurs have got a very good player there.”
Even if Villa do break the bank, however, they might struggle to find anything more than a few dented coppers. The pre-season promotion favourites spent transfer fees on just two players over the summer, bringing in Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady for a combined fee of around £2.5 million.
Needless to say, Tottenham would likely ask for far more for a young England youth star with his entire career ahead of him.
Options limited
Perhaps another season-long loan deal is the only way that Villa can hope to extend Onomah’s spell at Villa Park beyond the summer of 2018 – especially if the football offered is at Premier League level.
Villa managed to convince Man United to send Johnstone back to the Midlands after an impressive initial loan in the second half of last season.
And with Onomah seemingly unlikely to break into Spurs’ first-team as early as next season, Villa could certainly argue that a player Mauricio Pochettino rates very highly would be better off playing regular first-team football in claret and blue rather than making the odd cameo appearance for Spurs.
Onomah has made 14 league appearances for Villa in 2017/18 – more than in the previous two seasons for Spurs combined.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
