The Italian Press, according to a report in the Birmingham Mail, have claimed that talks have already occurred to initiate a move back to Italy for Aston Villa goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.
The young former Manchester United keeper has had a mixed first season in English football – he put in quite a few shaky performances under Roberto Di Matteo and has made the odd mistake under Steve Bruce (most recently in the 2-0 defeat against Leeds where he was arguably at fault for both of the goals). However, his shot-stopping ability is top notch, and with a little time he will start to cut out the mistakes.
It would be a shame if he were to leave Villa after only around 4 months at the club as he has the potential to become a very good goalkeeper. After all, you don’t get interest from a club like Juventus if you don’t have talent and potential.
Bruce is looking for a new goalkeeper to rival Gollini for the number 1 spot, and the Sunderland Echo have reported that Vito Mannone is on his January hitlist. Mannone is out of favour at Sunderland as the talented Jordan Pickford is clearly Moyes’ first choice. Bruce worked with Mannone when he was on loan at Hull from Arsenal.
Hull keeper Allan McGregor has also been linked with a move to Villa Park this January. McGregor, after an injury lay-off, has lost his place as number 1 to David Marshall, who was signed by Mike Phelan in the summer. Therefore, since he is not getting any younger, he should be looking for football elsewhere before he calls time on his career.
However, as it stands at the moment, Manchester United keeper Sam Johnstone remains the firm favourite to join the club in January.
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