Journalist Ashley Preece featured on the Claret and Blue podcast and revealed that Aston Villa will be looking to sign another top defender this summer in Burnley’s James Tarkowski.
The Villans have flown into the transfer window this summer having already captured the signatures of three important players in Philippe Coutinho, Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos, and it looks like they are going to keep adding to the backline with another big-time transfer from recently relegated Burnley’s star man James Tarkowski.
The Burnley defender has been sort after for a few seasons now as it was reported last summer that Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur were looking at bringing in the Englishman. However, now Tarkowski is able to leave on a free and Villa are rumoured to be looking to secure a deal for him this summer.
Preece entertained the idea on the Claret and Blue podcast this week, stating he wouldn’t be surprised if they got the deal done as their new manager Steven Gerrard likes a lot of options to work with and Tarkowski would offer a dependable and Premier League ready option.
He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was five centre-backs at the club. We’re talking Diego Carlos, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa… James Tarkowski – that’s a very possible one – and Calum Chambers to float around maybe play in that six.
“Gerrard wants loads of options to work with.”
TIF Thoughts on Villa signing Tarkowski…
Signing a player of the standard of Tarkowski would be a great move for Villa, consistency in their defence has been a problem this season as they have dealt with injuries to key men on the backline like Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause, Lucas Digne and Emi Martinez.
Bringing in Tarkowski as well as Diego Carlos gives Gerrard two new options in the heart of the defence and maybe even two new starters as we know Gerrard wants to improve this area from an interview he did upon his arrival at the club. In the interview, he said: “One thing I would like to instil and improve on, is the structure of the team from a defensive point of view.”
Tarkowski would certainly improve the backline as according to FBRef he ranks in the 99th percentile for both blocks and aerials wins with 2.67 and 4.95 per game, the 99th percentile in touches in the attacking penalty area with 1.95 per game and 97th percentile for clearances with 6.26 per game. Getting him for free could end up being one of the best transfers of the entire window, not just for Villa.
Should Villa sign Tarkowski?Yes
No
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