Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has revealed the reason behind him signing Scott Hogan in January as opposed to Jordan Rhodes.
Bruce, as quoted by the Mirror, was discussing his side’s clash against Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow afternoon and insisted that although Rhodes would have been a shrewd addition to his squad, he is happy with Hogan.
No disrespect to Scotty but he was cheaper. And in the end we went for him because I do believe his pace is a factor. I wanted to do something different with pace and Scotty Hogan has got that. His pace pushed me towards him.
Villa were claimed to have shown a significant interest in the Scotland international back in the January transfer window but they were put off by Middlesbrough’s high valuation of the player, meaning that Sheffield Wednesday swooped in late on to sign Rhodes.
However, Bruce opted to go ahead and make his move for Brentford striker Hogan, who had been on fire for Brentford prior to his arrival at Villa Park.
Hogan will miss tomorrow’s clash through injury but is yet to score for his new side, whereas Rhodes will look to add to his tally of three goals in the Championship since his move against Villa.
He’s been a proven goalscorer at this level for many years. He’ll be a threat tomorrow because over his career, he’s always been a threat. It’s a big investment that Sheffield Wednesday have made towards him and certainly him and (Fernando) Forestieri are as good as you get in this division.
