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Three reasons why Aston Villa must reignite Williams interest

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Reading midfielder Danny Williams suffered the heartache of losing in the play-off final on Monday afternoon after a penalty defeat against Huddersfield.

However, he is now set for an interesting summer with his contract expiring at the Royals at the end of June and he the midfield enforcer would certainly suit an ambitious team like Aston Villa.

Last summer the Midlands giants were also credited by the Daily Mail in their transfer blog (11.26am) as to making calls to the United States’ international’s representatives and here, This Is Futbol analyses three reasons why Aston Villa should reignite their interest for the soon to be out of contract player:

Proven performer

Williams joined Reading in June 2013 from Bundelsiga club Hoffenheim and he has since gone on to play in 135 Championship matches for the club. He has certainly proven he has what it takes to play in England’s second tier and he is the type of signing Aston Villa should be looking to make this summer. Newcastle proved last year with the additions of Dwight Gayle, Matt Ritchie, Mohamed Diame and Daryl Murphy that players with experience of the Championship was the correct route to go down in terms of transfers and given manager Steve Bruce’s knowledge of the English football leagues Williams should certainly be on his radar.

Depth

Bruce’s aim for Aston Villa next season will be to win promotion back to the Premier League after suffering relegation in 2016. Now, in order to stake a claim for promotion in a 46-match Championship season a large squad is needed. With Henri Lansbury, Conor Hourihane and Mile Jedinak the standout Aston Villa central midfielders in Bruce’s squad it is felt that the team needs greater backup, which is currently lacking. Williams could even move ahead of Jedinak in the pecking order due to his age and athleticism and with HITC reporting that Bruce was looking at 24-year-old Lincoln midfielder Alex Woodyard this summer the answer could in fact be Williams.

Cost

Managers are always on the search for value for money and there won’t be much better than Williams this summer with his contract set to expire. As previously mentioned the midfielder comes with plenty of Championship experience and some feel as though he could even make the step up to the Premier League. However, if Aston Villa offer him a large wage to compensate no transfer fee in order to entice him to remain in the English football leagues then they could secure a player who can help them return to the top-flight and then further for a fraction of what they paid out for the likes Tommy Elphick, Aaron Tshibola, Ross McCormack and Pierluigi Gollini last summer.

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