da leao： Aston Villa appear set to spend once again this summer as if last year worked any wonders, and the latest name mooted with a switch to the Midlands is a player they must avoid to move on from the Suso era…
What’s the word?
da fezbet： According to Jornal de Noticias (via Sport Witness), the Villans are interested in Benfica winger Franco Cervi, though it’s suggested that they are one of several teams who could make a move for the 26-year-old.
It’s also claimed that the Liga NOS outfit have set his asking price at just €15m (£13.5m), claiming that it’s a fee Villa could ‘easily’ pay.
The likes of Celta Vigo and Besiktas are also keen.
Lange must avoid
Dean Smith could do with further attacking additions this summer after his side scored only 41 goals all season, but a move for Cervi doesn’t make too much sense.
This season, the four-time Argentina international provided just four goals and two assists for Benfica in all competitions whilst averaging a poor 0.9 shots, 0.7 key passes, 0.6 dribbles and 0.3 crosses per game, via WhoScored.
By comparison, Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet combined for ten goals and five assists with both players managing to dribble 0.9 times and shoot 1.5 times per match in the Premier League this season.
Therefore, it doesn’t seem like Cervi is much of an upgrade on either winger.
£13.5m appears to be a bargain on the face of it but bringing the speedster in would simply be a waste of money, similar to that of Jesus Garcia Pitarch’s spending spree last summer.
Despite over £150m worth of new players, Villa were still embroiled in a relegation battle, which is something they can’t afford to do this time around.
Johan Lange must be wiser with his targets.
AND in other news, £30m talisman is everything Dean Smith needs next season…