Transfer Centre: Man Utd's Jadon Sancho talks continue, Emi Buendia close to Aston Villa move
04:26season that creativity was their priority in the window, and they've wasted little time in securing it in Emiliano Buendia ...
season that creativity was their priority in the window, and they've wasted little time in securing it in Emiliano Buendia.
"Jack Grealish's 12-game absence between February and May is all the evidence you need that the majority of Aston Villa's creative duties lay on his shoulders. Villa won just 21 per cent of their games without him, and won 54 per cent with their skipper.
"Buendia topped the charts for chances created (122), assists (16) and final-third passes completed (735) in the Championship last season, but for those doubting his ability to step up a division, his stats in Norwich's Premier League campaign of 2019/20 are also telling. Despite their relegation, Buendia was fourth for chances created (83), behind Kevin De Bruyne, Grealish and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"Whether Grealish plays left of a front three next season or more centrally as a No 10 remains to be seen - Villa still arguably don't know his very best position having played him more or less 50-50 in both areas since promotion to the Premier League. But wherever Grealish starts next season, Villa needed to strengthen in wide areas.
"Though Bertrand Traore, Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet have chipped in with important goals, there is a feeling that Villa needed something more consistent from the wings, and the hope is Buendia will provide that.
"Given how early Villa moved in this window, paired with fending off competition from Arsenal, this is a signing that Villa fans believe shows huge ambition."
When Paul Pogba walked back into the Manchester United dressing room for the first time since returning, the feeling from those at the club was that it was like “he had never been away”.
A hugely popular and charismatic character, he instantly radiated the kind of confidence that allows him to play those divine passes that so illuminate games and have so often set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The flipside is that Pogba left Old Trafford as a kid and, while he has obviously grown up in the meantime, there remains an immaturity to his game.
He is far from the finished article, as best shown by his positional ill-discipline, and by his regular combinations of the impressive with the imprecise; the fantastic with the frustrating. He still just offers highlights rather than full games. He isn't fully influencing them.
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