Villa’s shopping list

Saturday, 09/07/2011

by Steven Green, Shoot's Aston Villa blogger

It’s been a strange fortnight at Villa Park. After the media circus involving Alex McLeish’s appointment there has been little to report and once again the red top media have been running amok with their endless supply of rumours.

Slow news days are the bane of a football fan's existence during the off season but with the players returning to training and CEO Paul Faulkner back from his honeymoon we can now expect things to really start heating up.

Based on which reports you believe we are apparently close to agreeing a deal for Shay Given. A fine replacement for Brad Friedel if you ask me and for the £4m that has been quoted he could prove to be an absolute steal, but the question of what to do with Brad Guzan remains.

Thomas Hitzlsperger is also reportedly keen on a return to his former club and I (and many others) hope that he does find his way back home. Since he left there has been a lack of a threat on goal from outside the box and now five years older and with 52 caps for Germany under his belt he would return as a more complete player. We’ve also missed his hybrid Brummie-German accent!

Wigan’s Charles N’Zogbia has been marked as Ashley Young’s replacement and would be a fine choice. He’s long deserved a bigger stage than the latics (no disrespect to them) and McLeish is a long time admirer almost signing him for Birmingham City last year.

Those seem the most likely at the moment, there may be others that the club are working on but those are the names that the press has got a hold of. Brazilian playmaker Diego was also mentioned but in my opinion, unlikely to happen, I imagine he’d want someone who could offer him Champions League football so a move to Spain or Italy would be a safer bet.

Good players there but more are needed. A right or left back, two centre midfielders, a centre back and possibly another striker on top of those but whether the money to sign all of those is there, remains to be seen. Only time will tell and the time is nearly upon us.

Time to get excited!

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