Noel Whelan has heaped praise on Aston Villa new boy Jota.
The Spaniard arrived at Villa Park earlier this week from Birmingham City as part of a deal that saw Gary Gardiner go in the opposite direction.
And Whelan, who works as a pundit for BBC Radio Leeds, is convinced that he will be a success in the Premier League.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “He’s a great player, isn’t he?
“We saw when he was at Brentford with Dean Smith, so he knows the player well and I said before that Dean Smith won’t just go out and buy players he does not know too much about – he’ll go out and buy players with the quality he feels can fit into Premier League football.
“He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about it. He’s got pace, he’s got movement, very clever and intelligent player, and he’ll fit into the style of play that Dean Smith wants. You don’t add players that aren’t going to add quality and he’s one player that definitely will.”
OPINION
Villa fans will be hoping and praying that Whelan is on the money with this one. Jota has been a standout talent for their city rivals this season, and there is no reason to believe that he can’t make the step up to the top flight with relatively little fuss. As Whelan says, manager Dean Smith knows him well from his time at Brentford, and he wouldn’t be bringing in him to the club if he didn’t think he had something to offer the Villans. Increasingly, Premier League football is becoming about physicality and the ability to anticipate the game, and in that respect, Jota should have no problems. He is fast and intelligent, and should slot right into Villa’s plans. Even if he isn’t starting week after week, he can still be a very valuable player for this team, and Smith will know better than most just how dangerous he can be when he gets up and running. A really, really smart signing.