Aston Villa have sold defender Nathan Baker to Bristol City.
Aston Vila today sold defender Nathan Baker to Championship rivals Bristol City – and Villa fans are far from happy, sending messages to owner Tony Xia on Twitter.
Villa have focused on bringing players into the club so far this summer, with veterans John Terry, Christopher Samba, Ahmed Elmohamady and Glenn Whelan all arriving on permanent deals, whilst young goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has returned on loan from Manchester United.
Now though, Villa may need to somewhat balance the books by offloading fringe players, with midfielder Jordan Veretout sold to Fiorentina and Aaron Tshibola loaned out to Milton Keynes Dons.
There was a major surprise today though, as Villa confirmed on their official website that defender Nathan Baker has been sold to Championship rivals Bristol City in a shock deal.
Baker, 26, has come up through the ranks with Villa having first joined the club way back in 2004 at the age of just 13, and made over 125 appearances for the club during his time at Villa Park.
The defender was a regular last season with 32 league appearances to his name, but he has now been allowed to join Bristol City, where he spent the 2015-16 season on loan.
Nathan Baker
Many Villa fans have been left unhappy with the deal, with club owner Tony Xia receiving a number of messages from angry supporters after Baker’s time at Villa Park came to an abrupt end.
Supporters feel that Tommy Elphick or Micah Richards should have been sold long before Baker, who has put in years of service for Villa – and some even feel that Villa could live to regret the deal, much as they did after letting Gary Cahill, Marc Albrighton and Steven Davis leave the club.
Do you think Villa will regret selling Baker?
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