Both Aston Villa and Leeds have seemingly been swimming for the same talents this summer, as they both prepare for the new Premier League campaign.
From the likes of Odsonne Edouard (Mirror & the Sun), Rico Henry (the Sun), and Ollie Watkins (Sky Sports), there have been some top talents being linked with moves to Villa Park and Elland Road.
One name that has reportedly appeared on Marcelo Bielsa’s radar is Brighton defender Shane Duffy, according to the Scottish Daily Mail (16/08, back page), and he’s a player Dean Smith should also be pushing for.
Even though the Leeds faithful don’t want the Irishman to join them [read here] because they are only interested in Ben White returning to the club, it doesn’t mean that Duffy cannot help improve the defence of a team outside of the European places.
Villa need experience, especially at the back, and Duffy has that in abundance. The likes of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa need a player of his know-how alongside them to help elevate their own game.
Konsa was perhaps Villa’s second-best player when football restarted, but that doesn’t hide the fact that he was pretty inconsistent before that.
Villa have Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause and Bjorn Engles as their centre-backs, but Smith needs to be ruthless and part ways with one of those them in order to bring Duffy to the club.
Duffy would complement the likes of Mings and Konsa, but most importantly, he would provide reliability.
It’s obvious from the way Villa scrapped to survival that experience is needed, so sprinkling some of that on the squad this summer will help the young prospects in the side and also help them prosper easier and with less pressure.
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