Aston Villa have reportedly emerged as the favourites to sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham this summer after West Ham boss David Moyes ruled out a move.
Villa, Wolves, Leicester and the Hammers are all in the running to land the England forward, who has struggled for game time since Thomas Tuchel took the Stamford Bridge reins from Frank Lampard. However, it would appear that chase is now down to just three.
Moyes admitted that the £40million asking price for the 23-year-old is too steep for West Ham. And now Football Insider states that Villa have put aside exactly that amount to bring in Abraham.
The report states Villa are set to spend big this summer to build on their impressive second season back in the top flight.
They are also willing to meet Abraham’s asking price. That gives them an advantage over the rivals in the chase for the frontman.
Abraham is expected to be one of the most in-demand players going into the summer. He has only featured for 17 minutes of Chelsea’s last nine Premier League outings.
Talks over a current extension to his contract, which runs out in 2023, have so far failed. As a result, it’s likely that the attacker will be on the market come the end of the season.
Villa are known to be in the market for new attacking talent, with Dean Smith wanting to add two forwards to his ranks.
One of those is long-term target Dwight McNeil from Burnley. However, the winger will not come cheap after penning a new contract last October.
The report adds that if Abraham signs then Ollie Watkins is likely to move out to a wide position.
That could leave Villa with an exciting attacking trio of Watkins, Abraham and McNeil – if they land their top two targets this summer.
Subscribe for free to TEAMtalk’s daily newsletter…
Carragher rules out Grealish to Man Utd
Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher does not think that Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish is a player who Manchester United should be targeting this summer.
United head into the upcoming transfer window looking to take the next step towards a firm title challenge. While they look likely to finish second in the Premier League this season, this summer will prove crucial. Indeed, failing to make the right additions could prove the difference in challenging Manchester City.
As for where the Red Devils could improve, pundits have mentioned several areas which need attention.
Gary Neville believes that captain Harry Maguire needs a proper, long-term centre-back partner.
However, Roy Keane insisted that he would like to see Villa skipper Jack Grealish slot into United’s team.
Speaking to Sky Sports with his verdict, though, Carragher said that the midfielder – who can also operate out wide – would not fit into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans.
“I don’t think he would fit in here at Old Trafford just because of the players they’ve got, not his talent,” the ex-Liverpool centre-back said.
“They already have [Paul] Pogba playing on the left now, [Bruno] Fernandes, [Marcus] Rashford likes to play on that side.
“I don’t think he’s a must for Manchester United, I think he’s definitely got the quality.”
READ MORE: Liverpool, Man Utd get slap in face over chase for Aston Villa starlet
The post Aston Villa emerge as favourites after setting aside £40m to sign striker appeared first on TEAMtalk.
Robert McCarthy
No comments:
Post a Comment