Aston Villa face a potential summer of uncertainty as they battle for Championship promotion.
With one game to go in the regular season, Aston Villa are guaranteed to finish fourth in the Championship but face an incredibly difficult task trying to secure promotion through the play-offs, with the likes of Cardiff City, Fulham and Middlesbrough potentially amongst those standing between them and a place in the Premier League.
If there was not enough pressure on Steve Bruce’s men already, the fact that a couple of their players are only at the club on loan surely makes it all the more important that they go up this term.
Sam Johnstone is one of those currently at Villa Park on a temporary basis, and the Birmingham Mail recently suggested that promotion is likely to be a must if the Villans hope to extend that deal beyond the summer.
Therefore, Bruce may be wise to consider potential replacements for Johnstone in case Villa do not manage to go up and are unable to hold onto the Manchester United-owned stopper, and perhaps a report from The Sun should attract the Villa boss’ attention – but only if the player in question joins Newcastle United this summer.
If they miss out on promotion, Villa will probably not be able to compete with others for the Hajduk Split goalkeeper, but The Sun’s suggestion that Newcastle would look to loan Letica out to a Championship side immediately should perhaps tempt the Villans to consider an approach of their own if they find themselves in the second tier.
The 21-year-old is an extremely highly-rated talent – the clubs looking at him arguably proves that – and he could thus be the kind of player that may be able to step into the void if Johnstone does not return ahead of next season.
Another loan deal would not be ideal, but Newcastle’s plans for Letica may work out perfectly for Villa if they do have to have a plan B up their sleeve once this campaign concludes.
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