Linked with a superstar, return of another hero and competing with Arsenal and Tottenham for a Brazilian ‘Superkid’.

Shooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!

After a relatively quiet day yesterday with only a couple of links in to Villa that didn’t really get the pulse racing, I am pleased to announce that the fanciful links are back. I know in many cases that these links are often just that, and rarely do we see them come to fruition. However unlikely they may be, it’s always nice to see the Villa linked with top players. I am going to try and not be too dismissive about them, take the links with a pinch of salt and analyse the various merits of each player joining Aston Villa. We can dream!

First one today was reported in the Express and Star and announced to the world that Diego was on the radar of out great club. If there is even the smallest chance of him making the move, I hope that we move heaven and earth to at least try and make it happen. A big signing would go a long way to reuniting the fan base and he could be just the man. He is still only 26 and a few seasons ago was one of the biggest talents in Europe while playing for Werder Bremen. It’s all gone a bit wrong since and he now finds himself out of favour at Wolfsburg. This would be a huge signing for us, and would more than fill the creative void left by Ashley Young. He can also score goals, something we’re clearly lacking from central midfield. Few people saw McLeish being able to attract Hleb last season, few people can see this coming off. I’d love for us all to be proven wrong.

After being linked with one former midfield hero in the last few days (James Milner) rumours are now circulating that ‘Der Hammer’ himself, Tommy Hitzlsperger may be making the move back to Villa Park. It’s easy to look at the possibility of this transfer though rose-tinted glasses as we all have a lot of love for the man, but even taking away the Villa connection, he’s a player that can only boost the squad in my opinion. A lot of people want to see Charlie Adam make the move here but if there is a choice of paying near £10 million for Adam or sign Hitz on a free transfer, it’s a no brainer for me. They are both blessed with tremendous left foots and both offer a goalscoring threat as well as having great abilities from set piece situations. A lack of mobility is a concern with both but after seeing Hitz in action last season, his all around game looks much improved. I for one would much rather snap up Der Hammer on a free, then put the saved funds towards buying Diego .

Now on to the Brazilian superkid and he goes by the name of Casemiro. In a story that appears to carry little to no substance (It’s a whopping three sentences long) it states he’s a midfielder and has a buy out clause of £11 million. And that’s about all I know! If anyone has any more information on the player feel free to share. A few of our Facebook fans let us know a bit more about one of yesterdays links (Ruffier) and I went from knowing nothing about him, to being excited by his potential arrival!

In a follow up to the Foster story, it is now being reported that we may offer Guzan and cash in an attempt to convince Birmingham to sell. Now this seems to make sense. I’m actually a fan of Guzan’s and thought it was harsh he was dropped for the League Cup final a few seasons back but as for him being a premiership number one, I’m not too sure. He enjoyed a successful loan spell at Hull last season and I think he’d excel in the championship. We have a number of exciting young keepers at the club as well as Marshall so it may suit all parties if we can get it done. We’ll wait and see!

UTV.

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