Ty Bracey exclusive: Aston Villa can target European football with new signings
We’re delighted to welcome Villa View host Ty Bracey as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Aston Villa can at least aim for top 10 in the Premier League with new signings Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara brought in, says Ty Bracey.
The two high-calibre summer arrivals have served to provide a much stronger spine to the side that was at times brittle last season in finishing 14th.
But considering the level of the players that have arrived and the narrowing of the gap between the teams below the European places Bracey believes there is no reason why this new squad can’t be pushing for one of the qualifying spots come the end of the season.
He exclusively told Villa News: “I think top 10 is most definitely achievable.
“It’s difficult at this stage because we haven’t seen too much with our new signings. We leaked a lot through the middle last year, definitely without a defensive midfielder, and the defence needed a bit more reinforcement.
“So I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye on Kamara and definitely on Carlos. And Carlos isn’t coming into the club as a back-up. He’s a Champions League-quality player for me. He could have gone to a club playing Champions League football. He’s done quite a lot in the Europa League as well.
“He’s a player of that calibre, and so is Kamara. We’re very lucky that we’ve got Kamara on the books. So I’ll most definitely be keeping an eye on those two.
“As long as we can get that work in and avoid getting those leaky goals conceded through the middle, and conceding so much, top half is definitely achievable now.
“The gap for European football is getting tougher and tougher every year, so really the gap between eighth place and 12th and 13th isn’t that humungous in terms of points.
“It’s one of those things where I think we’ll be in and around the Europa places.”
Along with the earlier signing of Philippe Coutinho, the headline arrivals at Villa Park over the last year have been coups that wouldn’t have happened just a few years ago.
But with greater quality comes greater expectations so now is the time for the manager to get his players into position to start delivering.
If the new signings can hit the ground running it would give the whole side a welcome boost for the start of the season.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton thinks the captaincy switch is the right decision.