Aston Villa are set for a quiet transfer deadline day, with little in the way of last-gasp rumours.
In January, the Villans signed Morgan Sanson on a four-and-a-half year deal from Marseille, loaned out Lovre Kalinic and Conor Hourihane to Hajduk Split and Swansea respectively and sold Henri Lansbury to Bristol City.
Dean Smith hinted at a quiet finish to the window in Friday’s pre-match press conference, saying: “No, we’re not looking to (add players) at the moment. I think we’ve got a healthy squad at the moment (and) a healthy bench as well, so I’m quite comfortable of where we’re at.”
Villa’s name doesn’t pop up in the rumour mill of BBC Sport, Sky Sports or The Athletic, so it’s hard to see any business being conducted before 11pm. There was more of a need to offload out-of-favour players this month than bring in new recruits.
The defence is settled as Smith has Emiliano Martinez, Tom Heaton and Jed Steer in goal, Matty Cash and Ahmed Elmohamady at right-back, Matt Targett and Neil Taylor at left-back and Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause and Bjorn Engels at centre-back.
In midfield, there is Ross Barkley, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey, Marvelous Nakamba and Sanson. On the wings, Smith has Jack Grealish, Bertrand Traore, Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet. Up front, there is Ollie Watkins, Keinan Davis and Wesley Moraes when he returns to fitness.
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There is depth in every position, so it’s easy to see why Smith is happy with what he has got as Aston Villa sit ninth in the Premier League with two games in hand on most clubs.
That Villa aren’t doing much business in the last few hours of the transfer window is perhaps a sign that they got it right in October.
