Stoke forward Peter Crouch is the most likely player to be the next signing made by Aston Villa, according to Football Whispers.
The football site claims that Crouch, 37, is firmly in the running to return to Villa Park this summer after the Villains announced a huge boost to their financial situation on Friday that will see “significant investment” ploughed into the club.
Crouch is reportedly earning £40,000-a-week on his deal at Stoke, according to statistics website Spotrac, and is in line to be the first summer signing made by Steve Bruce in light of this latest development.
Football Whispers calculates the likelihood of a player moving to a club after gathering transfer rumours from around the world. They rate Crouch’s chances of being the next signing for Aston Villa at 2.6 out of 5, better than any other player in the running.
OPINION
Crouch will turn 38-years-old in January and everyone knows what they are going to get if they sign up the 6ft 6in (transfermarkt) colossus. The former England international is experienced, good in the air, decent with his feet and has a knack of being able to get among the goals despite his age. He managed to earn 14 Premier League starts at Stoke last term as they were relegated, scoring five goals in the process. Villa now look as though they can make some signings and Crouch could actually be a clever buy if Bruce wanted him. Villa’s strikers really struggled last term with Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan failing to find the net regularly between them. Crouch’s experience could be beneficial to the Villains and now that they have got themselves some investment, they could go out and strike up what would no doubt be a relatively cheap deal.