News about Aston Villa from BirminghamLive: In the most recent episode of Claret & Blue, John Townley and Dan Rolinson talk about the team’s lack of revenue.
Aston Villa has had a quiet start to the January transfer market, and they are not the only team that has refrained from making big purchases this month.
In a move involving an initial £6.5 million, Kosta Nedeljkovic is expected to become Villa’s first January acquisition. However, the teenage right-back is expected to return to Crvena Zvezda for the balance of the season. In the meantime, Villa is developing a one-in, one-out strategy since both Bertrand Traore and Calum Chambers are free to sign with other teams.
You can watch the most recent podcast upload here, featuring a Q&A session with our Villa correspondent John Townley and host Dan Rolinson of Claret & Blue. The talk revolved around Villa’s lack of activity in the January window, but even though the club had the chance to bolster Emery’s squad for the second half of the season, this was never going to be a busy window for the club.
Townley responded, “There is no specific number and only Villa’s chiefs, Monchi, Emery, and Sawiris will know that ballpark figure which can also change,” when asked what Villa’s January budget was. There isn’t just one money pot. The goal of the window is to provide you with an opportunity in January should you feel the need to add a player.
“But then you have to balance that against the fact that, should that player be able to improve Villa’s starting lineup, you will be paying too much for him or her because, after all, who among the players who joins Villa and makes the present lineup better isn’t already a top player or a top team? Thus, opportunity is everything, as Alex Moreno demonstrated to us in January of last year.
“He received £13 million, which was a substantial sum. Although he is already 30 years old, he was given permission to leave Real Betis, thus that was a nice chance. While there were other left-backs on Villa’s roster, the question was which one would become available, and fortunately, Alex Moreno was the man.
“Yes, Villa has some money to spend, but since players are expensive and teams wouldn’t let that player go in January, they don’t have to utilize it in this window. Calum Chambers and Bertrand Traore, two players we are ready to let go, have a cause for going, so if we were to sell one of our finest players, it would be for a huge sum of money.”
In the most recent episode of Claret & Blue, the team’s difficult task of preserving their form this season was covered, along with transfers, Jhon Duran’s future, and Nedeljkovic’s arrival.
