Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has returned to the Premier League as he and Aston Villa have closed on a deal that brought him to the latter team and will play for the remainder of the season.
Tom Heaton’s season-ending injury has Dean Smith and Aston Villa going in panic mode as the team is now actively looking for a goalkeeper as injuries continue to plague the team and hurt their chances of surviving the season.
Smith has been rocking his head in hopes of finding a way to solve the team’s woes and their growing injury list while keeping the team afloat in the tough league.
‘We’re looking at goalkeepers but whether we’re close or not, I don’t know’, said Smith. ‘I’ve been at the game so I’ve left that to our sporting director at the moment.
The team is in the mix of a relegation battle between Bournemouth, Watford, and Norwich. They are not that far from falling further into the relegation along with West Ham.
They recently had their eyes on former Arsenal and Tottenham star Emmanuel Adebayor after losing their frontman Wesley to a season-ending knee injury, which proved that his 22-million signing is futile. Adebayor was one of the picks to take Wesley’s place in the strikers’ section.
The team has spent a lot of cash in the offseason and has to make do with whatever they got to acquire a striker who would suit their needs in order to stay alive in the season. Adebayor’s experience could prove to be a big win for the team. They are needing someone to guide the young core who does not even match to the level of experience that the striker boasts.
Now that they have lost Tom Heaton, Villa will have to do better with their money as they now need a striker while complying with the Financial Fair Play regulations. Adebayor could prove to be an affordable man, but Reina’s addition have put the team in a poor status.
The AC Milan backup keeper has played in just 13 games since he joined the team back in 2018. His deal with Villa puts him with the team until the end of the season and a 12-month option can be talked about if the team ends the season outside of relegation.
The team is also open to adding Reina’s teammate Krzysztof Piatek to fill in for Wesley should the deal with Adebayor fail. The team is preferring a loan deal than agreeing with Milan’s 30-million fee.
Aston Villa found themselves in a tough spot this season. Smith, however, remains to be optimistic as he is taking one step at a time into solving the team’s woes.
