Aston Villa are in desperate need of creative inspiration and now find themselves in negotiations to sign an experienced playmaker in a lucrative free transfer deal next year.
Aston Villa continue to struggle after draw with Sunderland
Every Premier League point is valuable in the context of a season, though Aston Villa supporters will be feeling a familiar sense of frustration after their side surrendered a narrow lead to draw against ten-man Sunderland last weekend.
The Villans are in the bottom three and have yet to find a winning formula under Unai Emery, albeit they did finally break their goal drought courtesy of a sweet strike from Matty Cash to open the scoring.
Aston Villa’s Matty Cash celebrates.
Making his thoughts clear post-match, Unai Emery claimed his side need to rediscover their ‘identity’ and called on Harvey Elliott and his backline to be more decisive in their actions.
He stated: “We have to recover our identity. I am not frustrated with the result, but disappointed and frustrated about how we are playing. We are not feeling comfortable with our style. We have to try to recover our personality and confidence to play like we are training.
“Some players need to adapt, for example, Harvey Elliott was getting the ball and passing behind the defence without options. He needs to understand that he has the skills to play more passes and then do the pass behind or outside with better options. We were lazy sometimes defensively. Lazy. For example, the goal we conceded, we were lazy. Maybe it’s because we didn’t play in our style.”
While Jadon Sancho is still yet to make an impact in the West Midlands, there is a creative void within Emery’s side that Aston Villa struggled to address during the summer.
Now, the Villans may have identified a cost-effective solution in a move that is bound to excite supporters at Villa Park.
Aston Villa in negotiations to sign Julian Brandt
According to CaughtOffside, Aston Villa are in negotiations to sign Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Julian Brandt, who could arrive either on a cut-price deal in January or a free transfer next summer.
Capped 48 times by Germany, the 29-year-old has scored once in five appearances across all competitions this term and is yet to agree on an extension at the Bundesliga giants as he seeks a lucrative contract, attracting further interest from Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Fitting the brief as a versatile star capable of playing centrally or on either flank, Brandt has created three chances this term in the Bundesliga, per Fotmob, and he has also maintained a pass accuracy rate of 86.2%.
Experience and taking ownership are two qualities that Emery could use to lift his struggling side, though it remains to be seen if the Spaniard can convince Brandt to commit his future to the West Midlands-based outfit.
