Aston Villa boss,Tim Sherwood has claimed that no other manager in the country is more “committed” than he is to bringing up English players.
Speaking after Villa’s 1-0 win against Bournemouth; the 46-year old stated: “No one has given more opportunities to English players, than me.” Speaking about his summe transfer work he stated that English players “were far too expensive” and that “The way the market was, these French boys we brought in were the value for money and had the level of experience playing competitive football in France.”
Sherwood was responding to criticism that he had only considered talent from abroad in the current transfer window, and despite the strong debuts from Idrissa Gueye and the Jordan trio (Veretout, Ayew and Amavi), some have claimed that these players will not have the experience to survive a potential relegation battle.
The Villa boss has also stated that any future transfers “will be” home-grown players, and stressed the importance of a British core in any Premier League team: “That core of players is unbelievably important. I would say, if anyone was to become available now, they probably would be coming from the English market.”
The Villans were linked with English talent such as Kieran Trippier, Tyrone Mings and Danny Ings before all three players slipped through the club’s fingers.
However, recent speculation points to Sherwood adding to his squad with English players, with Sherwood potentially reviving his interest in Manchester United’s young striker James Wilson; as well as a potential reunion with Tottenham player Andros Townsend.
Sherwood could also be set to continue the Adebayor transfer saga after the Togolese player wasn’t even named on the bench for Spurs’s opening game against Manchester United.
