Fulham with bid for full-back as they look to hijack Villa’s move
Published:Alan Hutton has been granted leave from Scotland’s training camp by the Scottish Football Association as he looks to engineer a move away from Tottenham Hotspur.
It was believed the full-back was heading to Birmingham for talks over a move to Aston Villa but Fulham have entered the race late with a £4m bid for Hutton.
Villa remain the favourites to sign Hutton but the Scottish international has a long journey in which to consider his options and there may be a diversion to London lingering in his mind.
Hutton is already a London resident and with Fulham making some big moves in this transfer window – they are waiting for Bryan Ruiz to say yes and have signed Juventus defender Zdenek Grygera – Hutton has a lot to think about.
Villa have lost Luke Young to Queens Park Rangers and Eric Lichaj is out for four months leaving Alex McLeish short of full-backs, and Hutton would walk straight into the Villa defence.
Fulham’s aren’t in need of a defender in the same way that Villa are but their move for Hutton suggests Jol wants him in the first team and having fallen out of favour at White Hart Lane, Hutton will be enjoying his current predicament.
The division handicap betting would suggest Villa are set for a stronger season than Fulham and the opening three games of the season would confirm that view.
Villa have taken five points from their opening three games while Fulham have taken just one, but Fulham are 12/1 to win the league with a +36 point handicap and Villa are 20/1 to win the league with a +28 point handicap.
There’s likely to be very little separating them come the end of the season so it seems Hutton will settle for the side who can offer the best wage package.
