OPINION
Steve Bruce would significantly bolster Aston Villa’s bid for promotion from the Championship by forming a reunion with West Ham winger Robert Snodgrass.
Independent website Claret and Hugh claim Slaven Bilic is ready to offload the 29-year-old permanently or even on loan if a suitable offer comes in for the Hammers ace.
It is said that West Ham will be willing to part fund Snodgrass’ wages if any interested party is willing to secure the services of the Scotland international, after he was left out of the side to face Man United on Sunday.
Thus far, the report claims only newly-promoted Brighton have expressed any kind of interest in signing the former Leeds ace this summer after a disappointing spell in east London.
Bruce worked with Snodgrass for two seasons at Hull City after the promotion expert signed the winger from Norwich in 2014, before the Villa manager departed the Tigers in the summer of 2016.
Now, Villa need to add width to their side with only Albert Adomah offering any kind of proven Championship form out wide in their current side.
Andre Green is still unproven in the Championship or indeed at any first-team level, while Jack Grealish is likely to be sidelined until the end of 2017 with a kidney injury.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ross McCormack and Josh Onomah are better used elsewhere, while Leandro Bacuna has joined Championship rivals Reading.
In spark contract, Snodgrass has proven with Leeds, Hull and Norwich that he can thrive in England’s second tier, scoring 23 goals and adding 29 assists during his 104 Championship appearances.
Snodgrass is also more than knowledgeable when it comes to gaining promotion in the Football League, securing a place in the Championship with Leeds in 2009-10 before going one better and climbing into the Premier League at Hull in 2015-16.
Adding impeccable quality from dead-ball situations, Snodgrass would be the perfect signing at Villa as he would be able to hit the ground running under the guidance of Bruce for a second time.
Providing Villa with cover, Snodgrass holds the key to giving Villa the quality they desperately need to fire themselves back into the Premier League at the second time of asking.