Aston Villa defender James Chester is reportedly attracting attention from Premier League and Championship sides.
It is no secret that, as things stand, Aston Villa will not be flashing the cash during the summer following their inability to secure promotion out of the Championship. The Daily Mail has reported that the Villans need to raise £40 million to comply with Financial Fair Play and selling some of their key players could be on the cards, with Jack Grealish potentially leading the clear-out.
One of the other players who may well be sold if required is James Chester. The Mail reports that the centre-back is keen to move on this summer and has Brighton and Stoke preparing opening bids for him.
Chester has been a superb signing since arriving for £8 million – as reported by the Mail – so losing him this summer would be a huge blow for Steve Bruce’s side. But unfortunately, it appears that their need to balance the books could force them to sell players that they would rather keep.
Nevertheless, it would arguably be an incredibly worrying statement from the club if they ultimately decided to sell Chester to Stoke.
Losing the Wales international to Brighton would be bad enough – especially after John Terry’s departure – but selling him to a Championship rival would send out completely the wrong message unless the Potters offered to pay a ridiculous amount for the defender.
Potential Villa targets would be forgiven for being put off a move to Villa Park if they see Chester leave to join one of the sides that they will be hoping to beat to promotion next season.
Of course, making sure that the finances are stable should be the primary concern, but if Stoke and Brighton both put in the same acceptable offer, Villa should perhaps do all they can to steer Chester towards the Amex Stadium if they do not want to give off the impression that they are writing off their own promotion hopes next year.
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