Aston Villa podcaster Chris Dolan has criticised the club for not signing a striker during the previous January transfer window.
This comes after Dolan recently made an appearance on the latest episode of The Villa View Podcast where he reflected on the 1-1 draw between Dean Smith’s side and Newcastle United on Friday night.
Prior to the January transfer window, Smith hinted that they would look into the market should Wesley’s recovery from injury not progress as planned.
The Brazilian striker remains out, while their only arrival was midfielder Morgan Sanson from French club Marseille
On the subject of Villa’s current squad depth, Dolan had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I still think we’re miles away from having a good squad, I think.
“Again, I just think it’s criminal that we’ve got no one else to bring on to help [Ollie] Watkins, we’ve got nobody that can come on and bag a goal.
“I just think the lack of squad [depth] is starting to really catch up with this team of players, and you look at the running stats and the amount of distance and ground they covered for the first sort of six months of the season and I just think now, my fear was burnout – and I just think we’re starting to look a little a bit tired physically and also a little bit tired mentally as well.”
TIF Thoughts on Chris Dolan’s comments on Villa not signing a striker in January…
Back in December, it was reported that Smith was thinking about signing a striker in the January window as a sufficient back-up to Watkins.
Do you think Villa needed to sign a striker in January?
Yes
No
Aside from Watkins, Villa have Keinan Davis in their squad who has yet to score a goal for the team in the league this season and Wesley, who has been out of action since January last year with a serious knee injury.
Taking into account Villa’s other striking options aside from Watkins and the fact that the Englishman has played every minute in the Premier League so far this season, it’s understandable to us why Dolan thinks the club should have brought in another striker during the January window.
In our view, if Watkins picks up an injury at some point between now and the end of the season, Wesley doesn’t get back to full fitness and if Davis doesn’t start scoring goals, the club will undoubtedly regret not buying a new striker in January.