Aston Villa target Matthias Ginter set to join SC Freiburg – report
Aston Villa target and Borussia Monchengladbach defender Matthias Ginter is reportedly set to join Bundesliga side SC Freiburg.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the German centre-back was on Villa’s radar for the summer.
However, he’s made the decision to stay put in the Bundesliga and sign for Freiburg as Nico Schlotterbeck’s replacement.
Via his personal Twitter handle, Romano wrote, “Matthias Ginter to SC Freiburg, deal now imminent. Matter of days to sign the contract and re-join Freiburg on a free transfer from ‘Gladbach.
“Aston Villa, Bayern and Italian clubs were keen on him but he decided to sign for Freiburg as Schlotterbeck replacement.”
Bullet dodged?
Ginter is already 28 and does not have any Premier League experience to judge him by.
In the Bundesliga, the quality of football is lower and it’s not like he played in the Champions League every season either.
What Villa need are one or two really good centre-backs who have been proven either in the Premier League or one of Europe’s big clubs.
They do have the money to shell out on these kinds of players and could sell the idea of the project under Steven Gerrard.
Next season, targeting a top-half finish is realistic and a challenge that ambitious players would be willing to take on.
It still remains to be seen how much the board sanctions for defenders as if Villa want to go to that next level, they’re going to have to pay a premium.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are set to intensify Philippe Coutinho talks in the coming weeks.