Roberto Di Matteo wants to sharpen his Villa attack with the signing of Crystal Palace forward Dwight Gayle, with Newcastle also interested in signing the 25 year old poacher.
According to reports in the Express, Crystal Palace could be ready to cut their losses on Gayle who was bought from Peterborough for £6m three years ago. He managed just seven goals last season although he did finish the season as Palace’s top scorer in all competitions for the third season in a row despite his inability to hold down a regular first team spot.
That news has alerted Di Matteo who is looking for players to bring in to aid his quest to build a Villa team worthy of reaching the Premier League at the first attempt. He should have plenty of transfer funds available to him as Tony Xia’s takeover looks set to present a substantial amount of money to the new boss to reshape his squad.
Gayle made 20 appearances last season but remarkably only half were starts and it is believed that he is running out of patience with the lack of opportunities given to him at Selhurst Park.
Palace did accept a bid from Bristol City for the player last season but then the deal broke down with Bristol City confirming they were no longer interested in the player.
That may have been an indicator for Gayle that the club didn’t see him as one of their main assets and has prompted him to consider his future this summer although he did sign a new contract with the club in April so any hope of a cut price deal for Villa would probably not be realised.
Should Gayle be told he can leave, it is reported that Newcastle would be extremely interested in bringing in a player of Gayle’s calibre as they face an exodus of players following their relegation with Wijnaldum, Janmaat and Sissoko expected to weigh up their future soon.
