Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has confirmed he has held talks with goalkeeper Orjan Nyland about exactly why he has moved to seal a deal for new shot stopper Lovre Kalinic.
The Villans confirmed the pre-contract agreement on Friday afternoon which will see the Croatian stopper link up with the Championship outfit in the new year and bring fresh competition to current first choice Nyland, who himself was a summer signing.
Revealing that he had been tracking Kalinic for some time and that the deal took weeks to complete, Smith admitted he had held talks with Nyland to discuss why he felt a new goalkeeper was needed at the club.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “We’re really pleased to have got him in. He’s the Croatian number one, one that we’ve targeted and thankfully Jesus has got the deal done. Myself and Neil Cutler have had a good look at him for quite a while.
“I’ve spoken to Orjan and it should raise the competitiveness in the goalkeeping department to where we need it at a club of this size and push us on.”
Opinion
This is the cut throat world of professional football and Nyland will be knowing that barring a shock turn of events his future as number one between the sticks is all but over. He has not been the most consistent shot stopper and with promotion on the line this season it appears as though Smith feels more is needed from the man who occupies the box moving forward. Still, that is not to say Nyland is a poor shot stopper – far from it – and he will likely remain as the back up option to Kalinic in the new year. Of course that is not why he signed for the Villans in the summer and if he feels he is worthy of regular game time then he will be seeking an exit from Villa Park just a year after his arrival. His departure, if it were to go ahead, would not be met with too many tears from the Villa faithful but he has hardly done his reputation any harm with his performances this season. A couple of errors seems to have been enough for Smith to swing the axe.