According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa have signed defender Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth for a fee of £20m potentially rising to £25m with add-ons. Many neutrals have questioned the fee and some have even mocked the amount of money the Villans have paid for the 26-year-old.
A similar thing happened when the Villans signed full-back Matt Targett from Southampton for a reported fee of around £15million earlier in the summer.
There is sense behind the signings
Villa boss Dean Smith has never struck me as a stupid guy. He has been very successful in the transfer market in past campaigns. He and indeed John Terry would not be bringing these players in without thinking they would be successful.
Mings spent the second half of last season on loan at the Midlands club, helping them to promotion to the top-flight. The former Ipswich star proved highly popular with the Villa fans and put in some good displays. Villa fans seem to be celebrating his permanent capture, so maybe it’s not the craziest deal in the world.
Signing a new centre-back with experience of being at a Premier League club, while bringing in another relatively young full-back with top-flight experience makes sense.
Villa operating in that sort of market
Aston Villa size wise are still a big club in many people’s eyes. However, the Villans have just returned from the Championship, so cannot attract the truly top talent.
In fact, Villa are operating in the cheaper player market, where occasionally they have to take a gamble for a chance to progress. The club from the Midlands brought in two players with Premier League experience for less than £40million, which in today’s crazy transfer market is not a lot of money.
They are also not top-quality players. However, with the right coaching, they can improve and could develop into far better players. Mings was once considered as one of the best young English defenders in the game. However, a number of injuries curtailed his progress.
From the evidence of the second half of last season, he is over his injury troubles now. Those who are questioning the fee may just have egg on their face when it comes to the end of the season.
Targett is another player who according to Southampton fans is awful, can’t cross or defend. However, the 23-year-old has had to play back-up to Ryan Bertrand for most of career.
If he had not, then he would probably have more first-team football than he has during his career. No doubt he is not the best defender, but he works hard and I am sure that Villa assistant boss John Terry can teach him a thing or two about defending. At 23, he still has time to learn and improve. The reported fee is not a massive one either.
Not among the favourites for relegation
The custom among teams promoted to the Premier League is that they are made one of the favourites for the drop at the beginning of the campaign. However, just like Midlands rivals Wolves last season, Villa are not among the three favourites to suffer relegation next season.
In fact, at odds of 9/4, Villa are fifth favourites to suffer relegation back to the Championship next season. It seems doubtful that Villa have finished strengthening their squad ahead of their top-flight return.
Some of their signings may look overpriced or gambles. However, in today’s crazy transfer market there are very few guarantees. Villa are the sort of club that should be in the Premier League and only time will tell if their summer signings will be hits or not.
Has Aston Villa overspent on their summer signings so far?
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