Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens to back Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard in summer
Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens will back Steven Gerrard in the summer transfer window with the Aston Villa manager keen to sign at least three new players, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The newspaper reports that the Villa owners will “handsomely” back their manager as they aim to build upon an impressive January that saw Lucas Digne, Calum Chambers Philippe Coutinho head to the West Midlands.
It is understood that the three main positions that Gerrard wants to strengthen are at left-back, the defensive midfield area and up front.
Busy summer
Aston Villa fans have seen Sawiris and Edens free up a lot of funds for a transformation of the playing squad at Villa Park since the club returned to the Premier League from the Championship.
Of course, Jack Grealish’s £100million move to Manchester City boosted the bank balance enormously and it would not be a shock to see whether there’s still some of that money to be used in the summer too.
It’s a bit of a head-scratcher for Gerrard to want a new striker in the summer.
He already has Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins at his disposal while Bertrand Traore is also capable of playing there and 20-year-old Caleb Chukwuemeka, who’s currently on loan at Livingston, is also likely to be eager for a senior breakthrough.
Still, if there’s money to play around with, adding to the centre-forward position and potentially upgrading upon what Gerrard already has at his disposal makes sense.
However, in our opinion, securing the future of Coutinho should be the main target for the summer.
Aston Villa do have an option to buy the Barcelona loanee permanently for £33million [Sky Sports] but that doesn’t stop other clubs from coming in and snapping up the Brazilian playmaker.
According to an update by Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo today [24 March], Arsenal have registered an interest in Coutinho.