Aston Villa enter race to sign £65m midfielder

Aston Villa have a genuine chance of winning silverware this season.

After all, Unai Emery has his side third in the Premier League and Europa League as well as into the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.

However, the injury to Boubacar Kamara and the fitness concerns around some of the other midfield options could make lifting a cup harder than it needs to be.

Fortunately, Aston Villa have been linked with several midfielders who could help alleviate the pressure on the midfield, including one summer target who’d be a monster upgrade on Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Aston Villa target a Loftus-Cheek upgrade

It’s been a busy transfer window for Villa so far, with Donyell Malen moving to AS Roma and youngsters Brian Madjo and Alysson making their way to Birmingham.

The Villans have tried and still are trying to do more business, though, with heavy links to Tammy Abraham up top and then more recently Loftus-Cheek, following the club’s failure to land Conor Gallagher.

Now, the AC Milan midfielder would more than likely be a fine signing for Emery and Co, but the exciting thing for the fans is that they are now looking at someone who could be a truly excellent signing.

At least that is according to a recent report from TEAMtalk, which claims that Aston Villa are one of several teams very interested in Adam Wharton.

The report has revealed that, alongside the Villans, the list of teams keen to land the Englishman includes the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea.

While the competition is far from ideal, the good news is that the report states the young midfielder is expected to leave this summer, likely for a price around £65m.

It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Wharton’s immense ability and potential, one Villa should fight for, especially as he is much better than Loftus-Cheek.

Why Wharton would be a better signing than Loftus-Cheek

In an ideal world, Villa would sign Loftus-Cheek and Wharton in a bid to avoid another injury crisis next season.

However, that seems rather unlikely, and therefore, if the club have to pick one to sign, they simply have to go for Wharton, even if that means waiting until the summer.

Now, there are plenty of reasons why, and the first comes down to squad planning.

If the West Midlanders want to solidify their place among the best teams in England and kick on to become regular title challengers, they need to build a team full of talented players who will only get better as time progresses.

Therefore, it makes far more sense to sign the 21-year-old midfielder over the 29-year-old.

Furthermore, and this is reason number two, on top of being younger, the former Blackburn Rovers gem looks to be the better player.

According to Squawka’s comparison matrix, the Crystal Palace star comes out on top in most relevant metrics when comparing their league form this term.

These metrics include things like shot accuracy, chance created, through-balls, forward passes, take-on success, ground duel success, ball recoveries and more, all per 90.

Finally, while both have played in the Premier League, it’s the Eagles star who has the more recent experience of doing so, and not only that, but doing so and thriving.

In other words, while the Milan ace might get up to speed at Villa Park, we know that the “generational” 21-year-old, as dubbed by former Sky Sports creative Matthew Stanger, will.

Ultimately, while it won’t be easy, Villa should do all they can to sign Wharton this year, as he could be a game-changer for them and would be a far better signing than Loftus-Cheek.

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