Dean Smith has personally scouted Burnley winger Dwight McNeil as Aston Villa weigh up a summer bid for the Premier League winger, as reported by the Athletic.
Regardless of whether Jack Grealish stays or goes, Villa went into the market looking to add creativity and cutting edge to an attack still heavily reliant on the club’s talismanic number ten.
Smith has been at pains to point out that the Midland giants are no ‘one-man team’.
But the facts speak for themselves and, when Grealish was unavailable for two-and-a-half months during the second half of last season, Aston Villa slipped out of European contention and into the bottom half of the table, scoring just 13 goals in 12 games along the way.
The arrival of Emi Buendia from Norwich City should go some way to solving that problem.
The silky play-maker contributed 15 goals and 17 assists as Daniel Farke’s side stormed to the Championship title for the second time in three years.
Villa are not done yet, of course. But with Arsenal determined to hang onto Emile Smith Rowe, and with AC Milan now pursuing Julian Alvarez, it looks like Burnley supporters may be set for a nervy end to a rather quiet window.
Are Aston Villa going to bid for Burnley’s Dwight McNeil?
Birmingham Live reported earlier this week that Aston Villa could be about to step up their interest in the £40 million England U21 international Dwight McNeil.
The Athletic, meanwhile, states that Smith has taken a keen interest in the old-school winger, with many at Villa Park believing the one-time Manchester United youngster would enhance a forward line looking to fire the club into the top seven.
“He works incredibly hard,” Burnley manager Sean Dyche said in March after McNeil’s wondergoal sparked a well-deserved away win at Everton.
“I believe one day he’ll go on to bigger and better than Burnley, not because I don’t think we’re a big club or a good club, but maybe the superpower clubs (will buy him). And I think they’ll marvel and the fact he works so hard for the team, as well as the fact he can deal with the ball.”
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