Football journalist Dean Jones has been sharing his thoughts on the possibility of Aston Villa making a move to sign Burnley winger Dwight McNeil during the current summer transfer window.
This comes after Jones made an appearance on a recent episode of Touchline Talk, where he spoke about a range of transfer-related topics going around at the moment.
On the subject of McNeil, who has been linked with a move to Villa this summer, Jones had this to say about the situation.
He said: “From what I understand, he is interested in the prospect of changing clubs, if not now, then in the next year because he needs to change the style of football team that he’s in, in order to really thrive.
“Now, he likes Burnley, he’s been very grateful for the opportunities he’s had to shine, but ultimately he wants to be in a side that is more progressive, and I think that he’s more likely to be able to do that at a team like Villa.”
McNeil joined Burnley’s U18 side from Manchester United’s youth system back in 2014 for an undisclosed fee. Since then, the winger has played his way through Burnley’s youth teams before making his senior debut for the Lancashire club in May 2018.
Overall, the 21-year-old, who is currently valued at £19.8 million, has made 107 appearances for Sean Dyche’s side across all competitions in which he has managed to score seven goals and provide 16 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments on McNeil…
Given how McNeil ended the 2020/21 Premier League season with more assists (5) than any other Burnley player and an overall season rating of 6.87/10, making him their third-highest-rated player to have started more than three league games according to WhoScored, it’s easy to see why the winger has been mentioned with a move to Villa Park in recent weeks.
Would you take Dwight McNeil at Villa this summer?
Yes
No
In our view, given how Villa have signed Emiliano Buendia this summer and are reportedly interested in signing Leon Bailey, perhaps adding McNeil to their squad that also has the likes of Jack Grealish, Trezeguet, Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi in it, may not be particularly necessary, or even financially feasible.
In other news: ‘From talking to my sources’ – Insider drops big Grealish transfer claim at AVFC