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According to The Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa’s January window is far from over and the Midlands club will look to bring in three new faces before the end of the month. Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden is a target, while Chelsea’s Gary Cahill and Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings are also on the radar – the latter duo could transform the Villans defence if Dean Smith can get them in.
On the chalkboard
The Birmingham Mail reports that the trio, who are all being targeted with the aim of establishing defensive security at Villa Park, will be moving to the Midlands if Smith gets his way, with Birkir Bjarnason also being allowed to leave should a suitable offer come in.
Villa lost out to Bournemouth in the battle for Brentford centre-back Chris Mepham’s signature earlier this month – the Welshman opted for the Cherries instead – but have identified other targets as they look to plug a defence that has leaked 46 goals already this campaign.
If they can get Mings and Cahill in, we could be seeing a completely new look come February and the Villans may finally start racking up the clean sheets.
How do they change the defence?
Villa have been lacking a leader in the backline since John Terry retired at the end of last season having guided them to a play-off final – the Chelsea legend’s presence has been sorely missed at the heart of defence – but the signing of old friend Cahill would help regiment the team immediately.
The 33-year-old might not fit the bill at Stamford Bridge, most likely due to a lack of technical ability, but he is arguably the best defender in the ranks in terms of clearing his lines and getting his body in the way – Villa simply need to do both of those more often and it’s clear to see how he would make a huge impact.
Mings, meanwhile, gives Smith the interesting option of switching to a five-at-the-back formation – the 6-foot-5 defender can play at both left-back and centre-back – and doing so could mean the ball hits the back of the Villa net much less frequently.
If Villa want to push for promotion via the coveted play-off spots, they need to sharpen up at the back – Tammy Abraham can’t fire them to glory if they let in as many goals at the other end – and maybe straying away from the 4-2-3-1 in favour of a 5-4-1, for instance, is the way forward.
However, this only seems possible if Cahill and Mings, in particular, are brought on board; the clock is ticking at Villa Park.
Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video above…
