Aston Villa’s worst-ever deadline day signings: Joleon Lescott and bizarre free agent
Aston Villa have had a hugely frustrating transfer window, but silly signings are unlikely to go down well with supporters.
In the main, there has been a general lack of activity at Villa Park, with Villa’s signing of Evann Guessand from OGC Nice being the only true excitement to speak of in B6.
This has seen annoyance build towards Unai Emery’s side, especially after Villa fell to defeat against Brentford in a flat performance in the capital.
With that being said, the Villans still possess top-quality operators like PFA Young Player of the Year Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, who have stuck around with deadline day coming up on 1 September.
As a result, it is fair to say that things could be much worse with Villa News now running through the worst deadline day business that the Villans have conducted in the past.
Aston Villa will never forgive Joleon Lescott
Let’s not get it twisted, when Lescott moved to Villa Park, it looked like a shrewd bit of business after a number of positive years with West Brom and Manchester City.
Alongside Micah Richards, now a regular on Match of the Day, the centre-back pairing under Tim Sherwood appeared to be strong.
That was far from the case with the former Everton man becoming a hated figure on the terraces in B6 due to his apparent lack of care or desire.
This certainly wasn’t helped when Lescott tweeted an image of a Mercedes after Villa lost 6-0 to Liverpool, apparently from his pocket.
This “mistake” summed up his time in claret and blue, with no single plus point to his time with the Villans.
Leander Dendoncker had a mixed time at Villa Park
It is fair to say that Dendoncker is representative of the Steven Gerrard in B6, where signings were seemingly given no thought.
To sign a second-string Wolves ace on huge wages didn’t make sense then and doesn’t really now.
The Belgium international at one point was a useful deputy, but never looked like breaking into being a first-team regular at any point.
Now, the midfielder finds himself at Real Oviedo, after leaving Villa on a free transfer, proving exactly what a waste of money he was.
Scott Hogan cost far too much
In fairness, Villa needed a striker, and Hogan was arguably the best in the Championship, on form, when Villa brought him in.
But to pay £12million for the forward from Brentford just looked worse and worse the more he played in claret and blue.
Despite a positive period under Steve Bruce in his second season, that was as good as it got for the Ireland international at Villa Park.
Since then, he has featured for Birmingham City and now finds himself at MK Dons in League Two, summing up the level he was at when Villa brought him for such a sizable fee.
Lights still on for Simon Dawkins
Although deadline day has now become less frantic, it wasn’t that long ago before it was a huge event on the calendar that fans would stay awake to keep up with.
This was the case back in 2011 when Villa urged supporters that one more deal was left to be done at Bodymoor Heath, with the lights still on.
In the end, Dawkins came in on loan from Tottenham and went on to make just four appearances, not that any Villa fan can remember them.
A waste of time for both fans waiting on deadline day and the Villa for signing a player who ultimately had no impact, and supporters wouldn’t even recognise.
Borja Baston was meant to be a saviour at Aston Villa
Having been promoted to the Championship, Wesley was the big-money striker signing, but his injury left a gaping hole in Dean Smith’s squad.
Ally Samatta ultimately came in, but additional striker options were still needed, but it appeared that no one was coming to Bodymoor Heath.
That wasn’t the case, Villa managed to pull off a free transfer to sign Baston after his contract at Swansea City was torn up.
The Spaniard made two appearances for Villa before lockdown started, never returning after the break, before ultimately joining Leganes.
What a bizarre signing and a waste of everybody’s time.
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