Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow has suggested that the club will support the new management with transfer funds in the January window.
Dean Smith was officially unveiled yesterday and he was impressed with the squad he inherited from Steve Bruce. Villa narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League last season, but they have been very poor this term, sitting 15th in the Championship table after 12 games.
While the new manager will require time to assess the squad before setting up priorities in the transfer market, Smith probably has given a clue about where he would like to invest in January.
The new claret and blues boss feels that Villa’s squad is currently unbalanced. In a recent interview to Aston Villa’s Youtube channel, he said the squad looks light at the back.
“It’s a fantastic squad, full of quality,” he said. “We probably look a bit unbalanced at the back at the moment, if we’re all honest.
“There’s only a couple of centre-backs at the football club. But, overall, I’m very happy with it.”
It didn’t take long for him to notice that Villa are very thin in defence, and that bolstering that area is a priority. The club added Axel Tuanzebe as the only centre-back this summer, while Mile Jedinak was often used out of position at centre-back.
Smith is likely to sign a centre-back in the January transfer window. Villa have already been linked with a move for Scott McTominay on loan from Manchester United, which further gives an indication of where Smith’s priority lies.
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