Aston Villa are potentially 90 minutes away from the Premier League.
Aston Villa will be dreaming of a Premier League return over the next nine days.
Dean Smith’s side face Derby County in the playoff final at Wembley on May 27 and victory would see the Villans return to the top flight since their 2016 relegation.
Even before that, Aston Villa were perennial strugglers in the Premier League and hadn’t finished in the top half of the table since 2011, when they ended up ninth.
But if rumours are to be believed, Smith could be interested in three transfers which might help them equal that finish – if they go up, that is.
According to The Mirror, Villa will try and sign Axel Tuanzebe, Tyrone Mings and Tammy Abraham again this summer if they win promotion.
All three loanees have played a massive part in helping Smith’s side look almost unbeatable in recent months, and retaining all three would go some way toward helping them not only survive next season, but thrive.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, who finished seventh this past season, have demonstrated that it isn’t impossible to have an excellent first year back in the big time and, if they can keep Jack Grealish in the West Midlands, even better.
Tuanzebe is a gem of a defender, hence why he’s at Manchester United and rated highly by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and although Abraham didn’t set the Premier League alight with Swansea City in the 2017-18 campaign, he is a year older and will come back stronger.
Villa’s best Premier League finish of the last decade has been sixth under Martin O’Neill three years in a row. That might be a bit ambitious next season, with Mings, Tuanzebe and Abraham, but ninth or better would be phenomenal.
But first, they have to get there.
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