Aston Villa continue to struggle at the wrong end of the table.
As it stands, the Villans are in 19th place and two points from safety – albeit with a game in hand – and they now have just 10 matches to save their campaign. Although the likes of Jack Grealish and John McGinn have been able to produce some enjoyable moments – they have 10 goals in the Premier League between them – it has not been enough to steer them to a comfortable finish.
It wasn’t meant to be like this. Last summer, Villa spent over £130m on new recruits – in fact, only nine other clubs across Europe splurged more than the Midlands outfit.
However, much like Fulham the year before – they too parted with over £100m – they have spent much of the campaign in a relegation fight. The only difference between them and the Cottagers is that they haven’t dropped down to the Championship – yet.
Regardless of whether they do find themselves back in the second tier, though, their star players will be targeted, including Grealish. In fact, interest has already been high in the 24-year-old. Manchester United are actually said to be after the star, who could cost £70m.
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Quite frankly, Villa cannot allow him to depart. For a start, the former England U21 international is arguably Dean Smith’s best player – Grealish has seven goals and six assists in the Premier League to date, more than any of his teammates.
Perhaps more importantly, though, they must resist the temptation to make another splurge like they did last summer. Whilst this may not have been the best campaign, this is still a very young squad, and if they manage to stay up, they will be far better placed to deal with the higher expectations. A few new recruits may not go amiss to add some real strength, but they cannot afford to make wholesale changes like they have done in the past.
You would expect that they have learned their lesson after last year, but such a huge sum could make the eye wander – that would be particularly dangerous to the Villans’ current situation considering they made a loss of £69m for 2019 even after selling Villa Park to their owners.
Moving a star player on and using that windfall to complete an overhaul is far from a plan for success – just ask Tottenham. They sold Gareth Bale for a world-record fee in 2013, but only Christian Eriksen was a real quality signing amongst the players purchased thanks to the Wales international’s huge transfer sum, a group that included the likes of Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Roberto Soldado.
Keeping hold of Grealish is essential to future success. Villa have made the mistake of mass purchases once – they must not be tempted to do so again. More money to spend would only enhance that probability.
Meanwhile, this man may not suit Dean Smith’s system.