Aston Villa Women: Despite injury-stricken squad Carla Ward may limit spending in January transfer
As the WSL January transfer window opens, and teams all across the league look to bring fresh faces into their clubs, the business Aston Villa will partake in still remains a mystery to most fans.
Following a strong start to their WSL campaign in which they claimed the notable scalps of Manchester City and Liverpool, Carla Ward’s side may well use the upcoming window as an antidote for her injury-stricken squad.
The club’s torrid run of misfortune has seen ten players either having been injured or still remaining on the sidelines this season, with Natasha Harding out with a long-term quad injury, while Remi Allen, Simon Magill and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah have all fallen foul to remarkably similar ACL injuries.
Despite the lack of current options, Villa’s squad is more than capable of making do’s after a summer full of exciting recruitment.
The club’s lofty ambitions in the WSL were made crystal clear by the signature of Lioness Rachel Daly, who has proven a revelation since signing the dotted line in the summer, netting ten times in just 12 games and grabbing a hattrick in the 3-1 win against Reading.
Kenza Dali’s signing and loan moves for Danielle Turner and Kirsty Hanson have bolstered Villa’s ranks even further and left Ward with a plethora of selection dilemmas when her squad is nursed back to full health.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, The Athletic’s Dan Bardell said he believed Villa may not look to spend big in January and would only bring fresh faces to the club if they matched the profile Ward is looking for.
He said: “I think they may consider making a clever loan or two if they could. I think budgets are difficult in the WSL, and I would expect that Villa got pretty close to its budget in the summer.
“If they could get some loans from teams in the upper echelons of the league, that would actually improve the team in the short term I think they will do it, but they won’t just bring in any player for the sake of it. I don’t think that’s how they work.”
What may limit Villa’s spending even further is the success of the club’s burgeoning academy, which has provided the first team with countless stars over the last 18 months.
Under ex-Villa captain Kerri Welsh, the Under-21s have moved from strength to strength, with the likes of Olvia McLoughlin, Freya Gregory, Isobel Goodwin, and more notably, Laura Blindkilde Brown all flourishing when given their shot in the first-team.
With these highly-touted youngsters impressing under Ward and further talent yet to be prized from the youth levels, the Villa boss may stay away from the piggy bank and place her faith in the academy.
Bardell admitted that this young talent could well dissuade Ward from spending the big bucks in the coming month.
He said: “I think they’ll have faith in the young players coming through and would rather involve them than just bring someone in for the sake of it.
“If they are to make any signings, it will be people who can improve the first XI and not just squad fillers.”
Villa fans shouldn’t be displeased if Villa don’t go crazy in this winter window, as the signings made in the summer were made with a long-term project in mind. Daly, Dali, Blindkelde Brown and Co should be plenty to keep Villa in the hunt for their highest finish in the WSL.
In other Aston Villa news, here are three things we learned from Aston VIlla’s 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.