Vlaar in, Collins out?

It’s that time of the night when I get all excited waiting for potentially made up transfer rumours to emerge, and tonight’s offering has James Collins moving to Sunderland if/when Vlaar completes his move to Villa Park.

We wrote a piece on Vlaar earlier, and it really does seem that things are very close to being completed. It very well may not happen, but at this point it would be a bit of a surprise. If he were to come in, that would give us a centre back group of Dunne, Collins, Clark, Baker and Vlaar, with a number of others capable of filling in (Lowton, Lichaj). Baker gained some much needed experience towards the end of last season, and I’ve wanted to see Clark given a starting role at the back for a while now.

This all means that in all likelihood, we have one too many defenders on the books, and according to the piece in the Mirror, it’s Collins we’re looking to move on. He had a great start to his Villa career, and while I love his commitment on the pitch, sadly I think his quality is just not enough. I can’t confess to know a great deal about Vlaar, but he looks imposing enough and he could work very well along side someone like Clark, who is extremely comfortable on the ball going forward.

This year may well see Vlaar lining up alongside Dunne, and if he does stay, I hope the Irishman puts in the performances he is capable of. His display against Russia in the European Championship group stages last season was one of the best displays I’ve seen by a defender in recent years. He’s just looked like something has been missing the past few seasons, hopefully he can sort himself out and give us a good year or two. Here are a few lines from the Mirror piece:

‘Villa are closing in on the signature of Feyenoord centre-back Vlaar, but while the 27-year-old has a buy-out clause, new boss Paul Lambert still has to balance the books.

Collins, 28, is ripe for being moved on because he has just 12 months left on his contract.

The Wales stopper was signed for Villa by then-boss Martin O’Neill, who is now in charge at Sunderland and remains a big fan of Collins.’

We’ve seen first hand how Martin O’Neill likes his overpriced British purchases, so hopefully he does a favour should he come in for Collins. It really wouldn’t be a surprise were this to happen, and as per, we’ll see how it plays out.

UTV.