Additions such as Nathaniel Clyne, Daniel Ayala and Douglas Costa, would steady Villa’s shaky defence for the upcoming season. Nathaniel Clyne currently playing at Crystal Palace is one of the most talented upcoming right backs in English football, his speed, tackling and attacking promise left defences in tatters last season. Daniel Ayala, who worked under Lambert last season at Norwich, would be a great addition to the Villa back four as well, with his height and speed to help dominate the Richard Dunne dominate the Villa 12 yard box.
Villa’s other problem was who replace would captain Stiliyan Petrov, who was sadly diagnosed with leukemia half away through last season. That question was answered in the purchase of playmaker Karim El Ahmadi from Feyenoord for just over two million pounds. El Ahmadi was considered by Feyenoord supporters one of their best players last season and was only sold due to the club’s widely known financial problems. He is capable of running the game from central midfield, with his array of passing and tireless work rate, something Villa miss without Petrov. To date nothing has been said if John Makoun, who was out on loan at Olympiakos last season will be a Villa player come August.
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Then Villa’s attacking options, 24 million England forward Darren Bent is a 20+ goal striker and would have easily reached that mark if he wasn’t injured for 3 months last season, but needs the supply from his fellow attacking players. Winger Bret Holman has been signed from AZ to help bolster the width options and Lambert will be hoping he can revive the confidence Marc Albrighton had before McLeish’s arrival. The jury is still out on Charles N’Zogbia and Steven Ireland’s futures at Villa Park. There have been also unconfirmed reports Manchester City are prepared to let England winger Adam Johnson leave for 10 million, which would brighten Villa fan’s eyes if Paul Lambert was able to secure his signature, but he would face stiff competition from other clubs for it.
With just over a month until the new season starts Villa fans will keenly keeping tabs on Sky Sports News to see what players will be arriving into B6 and which players will be told they are no longer in Paul Lambert’s plans. Villa fans though can’t expect to see a repeat of when they were challenging for top 4 under Martin O’Neil within a season, it will probably take 2-3 years until Aston Villa Football Club are back where they should be, challenging for European Football.
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