Aston Villa are reportedly planning on bolstering their attack in the summer, with the likes of Reading’s Michael Olise and Bournemouth’s David Brooks already linked to the club.
A report from Express and Star this morning details how Aston Villa manager Dean Smith is ‘keen’ to take some of the strain off Jack Grealish in the summer.
The former Brentford boss is interested in bringing in attacking options and he’s already been linked to a couple in Olise and Brooks – both have been coming in and out of transfer contention throughout the season.
Olise, 19, has just the one year left on his contract in Berkshire. He’s been linked with a host of top European clubs this season, including both Chelsea and Liverpool as well as Bayern Munich.
Villa were a bit later to the party. But the Frenchman’s form has died down a bit since the turn of the year and so it could deter the bigger clubs, potentially leaving the door open for Villa.
Largely the same can be said of Brooks. The 23-year-old Welshman has endured another stop-start campaign owing to injury, having only returned to action in Bournemouth’s last outing v Blackburn Rovers.
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He remains a young player, and a player with plenty of potential going forward. He’s managed 25 Championship appearances this season and netted three goals, and could yet become available if the Cherries miss out on promotion.
Reading sit in 6th-place and Bournemouth in 7th as it stands, and so if one or even both teams step up into the Premier League, it could kill Aston Villa’s links to either Olise or Brooks.
What’s more is that Express and Star report that Smith is set to have a ‘healthy’ budget once again in the summer transfer window.
A lot remains to be seen for Villa, but they could have another exciting summer haul and progress even further next time round.
