Cardiff City are still waiting on an acceptable fee to come in from Aston Villa for goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, according to journalist Alan Nixon.
An earlier report [Football Insider] claimed that Villa had upped their offer to £9million after having an initial bid for the 60-time Philippines international rejected.
Writing on his personal Twitter account, Nixon – who writes for The Sun – reported that Etheridge’s transfer fee is the main aspect of the deal holding a move up at this time.
Nixon added that Tyrone Mings and Jota are both likely to join the Villans soon when asked by a fan what the hold up is with those deals.
Mings looks likely. Jota too. Need to agree a fee for Etheridge. https://t.co/Jg4I6zqm1V
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) June 4, 2019
OPINION
From this report, it seems that Cardiff seem willing to part with Etheridge, but only for the right money. Therefore, if Villa can come up with an acceptable offer that the Bluebirds seem happy with, then there should be no other problems in getting this transfer over the line. It’s about time Villa got someone in too, with Ross McCormack becoming the ninth player to depart from the club in just over a week. In all seriousness, though, Etheridge would be a solid addition to Dean Smith’s squad. The 29-year-old has Premier League experience from last season, and even though he was eventually relegated under Neil Warnock, the 38 games he played in the top flight would have been an important learning curve for the player. What’s more, the stopper kept 10 clean sheets last term, which is a very respectable amount, especially for a relegated goalkeeper. All in all, this would be a good move for Villa and one they should keep working to complete.