Plenty of new faces were expected to arrive at Aston Villa but, at the moment, Steve Bruce’s squad is smaller than it was in December.
Former Aston Villa goalkeeper Nigel Spink has told the Birmingham Mail that he has a concerning suspicion that ambitious owner Tony Xia is not as influential as it appears.
The Chinese businessman has endeared himself to Villa fans with his hands on approach and willingness to invest huge sums in the club’s hitherto below-par playing staff, with the likes of Jonathan Kodjia and Ross McCormack arriving in the summer for large fees.
Xia has also been typically outspoken about his desire to guide Villa back to the top of the English game and, although results have stalled somewhat in the last couple of weeks, there’s a much greater degree of optimism in the claret corner of the Midlands these days.
However, despite promising a number of additions in January to take Villa to the next level, with the likes of Henri Lansbury, Jordan Rhodes and Conor Hourihane (below) all linked, Steve Bruce’s side are yet to complete a signing this month and Spink is concerned that all is not well behind the scenes.
“I think that Steve Bruce has to finalise his own deals in January,” the former Villa goalkeeper told the Birmingham Mail. “Only last week [Xia] was banging on about getting four in, I think Bruce is possibly going to have to finance the deals.
“That’s why Gestede, Cissokho and Gollini have gone, get the wage bill down to enable him to get anywhere near the type of signings he needs to do.
“I hope I am wrong, the owner has gone quiet, and he hasn’t been quiet since he took over at the club. I hope something doesn’t smell, it’s a little bit worrying at the minute.”
The departures of Rudy Gestede, Aly Cissokho and Pierluigi Gollini were expected to be followed up by a number of impressive additions but, as yet, Villa appear no closer to turning reported speculation into anything more concrete.
Of course, Spink’s comments could be little more than a conspiracy theory but Villa fans are certainly getting increasingly frustrated that none of their reported targets are yet to be pictured in claret and blue.
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