Report: Aston Villa abandon move for Jack Butland

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Aston Villa have abandoned their attempts to sign Jack Butland.

According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa have backed away from Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland because of the £25million asking price involved in a potential deal.

Excitingly though, it’s believed that Villa don’t want to spend that much on a goalkeeper, as they expect to be spending big money on other areas of the pitch.

Villa fans will be excited to see some outfield players arrive, with a centre back, holding midfielder and another winger almost certainly set to be on Dean Smith’s wish list.

It does though leave Villa with issues in goal. A new, experienced shot stopper will be wanted to compete with Jed Steer, but £25million for Butland has been deemed to expensive.

Who could Villa target instead then? Well, you’d expect them to go along a similar path, in terms of targeting a proven goalkeeper with Premier League experience, who can solidify the Villa back line in their first season back in the top flight.

Cardiff City’s Neil Etheridge ticks many boxes, especially having worked with Villa’s Smith and goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler at Walsall. The 29-year-old starred last season, but Cardiff would likely demand up to £15million for him.

Cheaper options would be Burnley’s Tom Heaton or Southampton’s Alex McCarthy, with Heaton the more appealing of the two. McCarthy would be the cheapest of the three, but arguably the least convincing.

That leaves Villa with a conundrum. Having backed away from Butland, they’re now left to decide whether to go for a quality keeper in the £10million to £15million range in Heaton or Etheridge, which isn’t a huge discount on Butland, or a cheaper option in McCarthy, who may need replacing again in a couple of years.

Villa appear to have decided that it’s worth taking a cheaper goalkeeper in order to go and get a player like Kalvin Phillips or Said Benrahma, two players with huge futures ahead of them, and signings like those would be hugely exciting for Villa fans, possibly more so than signing Butland and bringing in two cheaper outfield talents.