Here are three free agents that Aston Villa should sign this summer.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce will be planning for a much more successful Championship campaign in 2017-18, after what has been an inconsistent term both on and off the field .
Since taking the reigns at Villa Park from the sacked Roberto Di Matteo in October, Bruce has guided Villa from 19th position in the Championship to a more respectable 12th placed standing – although the club’s erratic form has persisted, with a ten game winless run earlier in the season stretching from late December to late February.
However, Bruce still possesses some of the division’s most able players and will be fully intending to oversee a promotion push next season. With this in mind, The Villa boss may well look to supplement his young, talented troops with a sprinkle of know-how and experience – whilst simultaneously utilising the out-of-contract market.
Michael Carrick
The vastly experienced and successful Manchester United ace has remained an important figure at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho, but at 35, Carrick may be deemed surplus to requirements at the Premier League giants (he is yet to be offered a new deal). With Carrick’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, could Bruce make a shrewd move for the ‘pass-master’ who, as reported by the Mirror, attended the Villa manager’s son’s wedding in 2015?
George Boyd
The current Burnley forward was signed by Bruce for Hull City in 2013 – a period in the Scotland international’s career that saw an FA Cup Final appearance and participation in European football in 2014-15. Boyd, now 31-years-old, can be viewed as an proven Championship performer and may well consider the possibility of returning to the division in order to re-unite with Bruce – especially as no new contract appears to be on the horizon at Turf Moor.
Wayne Hennessey
The Midlanders have a collection of plausible misfits when it comes to goalkeepers at the club. Current number one Sam Johnstone is only contracted to Villa by virtue of his loan move from Manchester United – who, if so inclined, decide to recall the 23-year-old stopper, would curtail Bruce’s options to Jed Steer, Mark Bunn, or a return for the out-of-favour Italian Pierluigi Gollini a year early from his loan spell with Atalanta (due to run until May 2018).
Consequently, Bruce may well fins himself in the market for a reliable goalkeeper – and Crystal Palace’s Wayne Hennessey could be an ideal signing. Welsh international Hennessey, whose contract at Selhurst Park is set to end in the summer, spent close to ten years of his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers and the recently under-fire 30-year-old could possibly welcome any potential return to the West Midlands
Will signing these free agents aid Villa’s quest for a Premier League return? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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