Dion Dublin says Aston Villa must sign 5 players before competing for European places
Dion Dublin believes Steven Gerrard needs to sign up to five players before Aston Villa can start competing for European football in the Premier League.
The Villans fell to another defeat on Tuesday night [May 10] to Liverpool, losing 2-1 after taking an early lead at Villa Park.
After watching the game as a pundit for Sky Sports, Dublin commented on his former squad and said they’re a bit short in areas and thinks the manager needs a couple of windows to get the squad he wants.
“I think Steven Gerrard needs a couple of transfer windows (to build his Aston Villa squad),” he said. “Keeping Philippe Coutinho is a must I think.
“Centre halves need to be better, full backs are good. 3,4,5 more players in and you can start to challenge for those Europa places, which is where Villa need to be.”
The club are believed to be close to sealing a deal for Coutinho, while they have also been linked with the likes of Yves Bissouma and Kalvin Phillips.
Patience
There is no rush for Villa to zoom back to their old ways of challenging for European football and fans should be patient as the club rebuild.
Throwing money at their issues isn’t always the solution and they must be wary of it going pear-shaped and then finding themselves in trouble.
But the ambition the club and manager are showing is really encouraging and if they can get their business done then they will be an impressive outfit next season.
Now they must focus on getting in the right players for the right deal and allow Gerrard the time and patience to build the squad in his own image on the pitch, to fine tune his style and get results.
It’s a long term project and Gerrard has shown what he can do with when given time, so it’s an exciting time to be an Aston Villa fan.
In other Aston Villa news, Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins could leave for West Ham in £50m move – report