Aston Villa journalist Cole Pettem has made a suggestion that signing Burnley winger Dwight McNeil would ‘almost be perfect’ for the club this summer.
This comes after Pettem recently hosted a special transfer-themed episode of Villa-focused podcast Holtecast, that focused on some potential incoming transfers the club could make this summer.
On the topic of which players he would like to see Villa make a move for this summer, Pettem chose McNeil as one of his picks.
He said: “I wouldn’t say [McNeil is] the perfect winger, but I feel like it’s someone that would almost be perfect for Villa. Very, I wouldn’t say super exciting player, but definitely can get the job done. It’s kind of hard to see how well his career might go – of course, he’s only 20. It’s always tough to say in that Burnley side, because they only really play one way, it’s going to be hard, gritty, you know what you’re going to get out of them. I don’t know if he fits into that too well, so I feel like there’s a lot of room for him to grow.
“I think last season he had 38 appearances, two goals, six assists, nothing to really write home about, and of course, you’re dealing with another Premier League club and at that age, and he’s English, it’s probably going to cost quite a bit as well. If we’re going to be a little ambitious, then yeah, I’d probably go for him.”
After making his senior debut for Burnley back in May 2018, the 20-year-old, who is currently valued at £22.5 million, has gone on to make a total of 67 appearances for Sean Dyche’s side in which he has scored five goals and provided 11 assists.
The 2019/20 Premier League season saw McNeil in hot form for the Lancashire club, having earned himself a season rating of 7.06/10 for his performances in the 38 league appearances he made for Burnley, making him their second-highest rated player for the campaign (per WhoScored).
Would Dwight McNeil be a good signing for Villa?
Yes
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TIF Thoughts…
With McNeil having enjoyed a decent season for Burnley last year, it would seem unlikely that he would want to make the move to Villa this summer when they finished the 2019/20 season in 17th place, seven places and 19 points behind Burnley (per BBC Sport).