Fringe Chelsea player could save Aston Villa
Published:
Sitting bottom of the Premier League going into the new year with only single-digit points puts Aston Villa in a difficult position when the transfer window opens.
Remi Garde’s side are currently priced at 1/22 to be relegated and attracting players to Villa Park will prove difficult as they will know that doing so means you are more than likely to be playing in the Championship next season.
Therefore, the Villans need to look into less conventional ways of squad recruitment and exploiting the loan market is one avenue they should explore.
Patrick Bamford has just finished a spell at Crystal Palace where he only managed to get on the pitch for 119 minutes before returning to his parent club Chelsea.
The young forward has been prolific when he’s played in the Championship and League One, but clearly Alan Pardew didn’t rate him enough to trust him in the Premier League.
While at Middlesbrough last season the Englishman found the net 19 times across all competitions to help Boro reach the play-off final.
Similarly, he scored 21 goals in 44 games over two spells at MK Dons and his form there is when he started to get attention.
Chelsea clearly want him to continue his development with game time in the top flight, but are unwilling to give him that themselves and the Eagles couldn’t provide it for the youngster.
Bamford would be more willing to move to Villa than most, given that it would only be a short-term loan and gives him a chance to prove himself in the top flight.
The Midlanders are currently 11 points from safety and Garde has said his team need ten wins if they are to survive.
This will prove a difficult task, but bringing in a young and hungry proven goalscorer like Bamford would go a long way to coming good on their 8/1 odds of survival.
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