OPINION
What a coup it will be for Aston Villa if they can sign Josh Onomah in the final hours of the summer window.
That has become an exciting and real possibility after the Sun reported Villa and Tottenham are working on finalising a part-exchange deal in which Jack Grealish heads to London and Onomah goes in the opposite direction.
It appears a deal is now all but done for Grealish to join the Premier League club following weeks of talks over a transfer in which Spurs have been reluctant to match the Championship club’s asking price.
It would certainly be some smart negotiating from Villa if they seal the capture of attacking midfielder Onomah.
Aged 21, he is a six-times England Under-21 international who has made 32 appearances for the Premier League giants and impressed during a season-long loan at Villa in 2017-18.
Onomah scored four goals and supplied three assists from 37 matches, including 20 league starts, and has been spoken very highly of by manager Steve Bruce.
With a year of Championship experience under his belt, the Spurs academy product can make an even bigger impact in the upcoming campaign.
Villa’s promotion hopes – which have been given a boost in recent days as they close in on deals for Bristol City left-back Joe Bryan and Hibernian central midfielder John McGinn – would be transformed if they also land Onomah.
The Sun do not make it clear if Onomah will join Villa permanently or on loan.
It is more likely to be the latter as Spurs rate the youngster highly, with his mobility, distribution and technical quality long making him a player who can establish himself in their first team.
Whatever the eventual deal length agreed, Villa are close to completing a squad overhaul that leaves them well placed to go one better than last season, when they were beaten in the Championship play-off final.