Players are rejecting Villa - Garde

Aston Villa boss Remi Garde has claimed that their January transfer targets are turning down the chance to play for his side due to their hugely difficult season so far. Sky Sports report.

Villa find themselves rooted to the bottom of the spot, 11 points adrift of escaping the relegation zone and in bad need of fresh faces to boost their survival hopes.

However according to boss Garde, signing new players to bolster their squad is proving to be a tougher challenge than what was first anticipated as the club fail to attract players of the quality needed to stay up.

Attracting players in the situation we are in is not an easy task because players are not only attracted by money, as many people think.

Although former boss Tim Sherwood brought in an obscene amount of 13 players last summer, the majority have failed to really impose themselves on the English game and their struggle has resulted in a lack of results.

Garde has also stated that if Villa were not in such a difficult position this season, he may have already signed two players to improve the squad.

They also care about the project that we present to them. I have to say that if we had been in a better position, I would probably already have signed at least two players.

Of course, when a player says ‘I would have liked to have worked with you but, I’m sorry, I prefer to wait and see what happens’, it is very frustrating. But I can do nothing about that. It is very frustrating but I came into a situation that I knew could be uncomfortable to me for signing players.

However, despite Garde’s uphill battle when it comes to signing players mid-way through the campaign, the Frenchman has insisted that a huge change of personnel next season could be necessary.

In the long-term, for sure, the squad needs overhauling but during this transfer window, as I have said, January is not the best time to do things because it is very difficult for many reasons.

Although evidently Garde is struggling to turn Villa around, he is remaining hopeful of bringing in at least one player in January.