Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Millwall made it abundantly clear that Aston Villa are seriously lacking a creative spark at the moment.
The now manageress Villans were moulded into a functional and unspectacular outfit by Steve Bruce, and even without him in charge they looked devoid of confidence at the Den.
With that in mind, the club should consider making a January loan move for Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi. The 17-year-old excelled for the Blues in preseason and would bring excitement and fearlessness to this lukewarm Villa side.
The 5ft 9in winger [Source: Transfermarkt] is exactly the sort of player the Birmingham giants require at this time. He would provide the side with everything they’ve been missing over recent months, and would be capable of lifting the gloom that has surrounded Villa Park of late.
He showed his quality with a tremendous summer of football for Chelsea, and his promotion to the first team squad shows how highly Maurizio Sarri rates him.
Villa already have Tammy Abraham on loan from the West London club so there is a relationship there that they can benefit from, and teams are allowed two players on loan from the same side so the Hudson-Odoi deal would be one they could get done.
Having Hudson-Odoi on one wing and Yannick Bolasie on the other, with Jack Greslish playing in behind Abraham, would be a sensational attack that would simply be too much for the rest of the Championship.
The youngster’s speed would be devastating for Villa, while he showed in preseason that he has the finishing and the composure to go with it.
This all depends on whether Chelsea are looking to loan Hudson-Odoi out or not, but he’s not really featuring for the first team at the moment so there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be allowed to depart on loan.
If the Blues consent to the deal then it would represent a phenomenal bit of business from Villa, and the perfect tonic for their woeful start to the season.
Villa must pull out all the stops to get him.