Aston Villa have proved just how capable they are of being busy in the transfer market and bringing players to the club, some of which coming from fellow English clubs.
One top-flight figure that we feel the Villans should be kicking themselves over not signing in the summer is Tomas Soucek.
Back in June, it was reported that West Ham United were willing to listen to offers of £30m for the midfielder, with Villa being one of the clubs supposedly interested in the player.
Having remained at the London Stadium, the 27-year-old has since shown how much of a mistake it has been from Villa to not launch a move for him.
For example, the midfielder has had more attempts on target (5) than any other Hammers player, as well as racking up the fourth-highest number of passes into the final third of the pitch (19).
Then from a defensive point of view, the Czech international has the joint-highest number of successful tackles (14) and blocks (13) to his name.
He also has the third-highest number of interceptions (14) at the east London club, as well as making more pressures in the defensive (51) and midfield third (50) of the pitch.
Soucek’s overall performances have earned him an early season rating of 6.92/10 from WhoScored, making him the highest-rated player in David Moyes’ squad.
This rating would also make him the highest-rated outfield player at Villa by the same metric, further highlighting how impressive it would have been for the Midlands club to sign the midfielder in the summer.
Having been described by Yannick Bolasie as “unplayable” in terms of his performances in the past, Soucek would surely have been a useful option for Steven Gerrard at the moment with Boubacar Kamara out injured, especially given the 27-year-old’s defensive talent.
Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to suggest that Johan Lange may now be wishing he had made an effort to bring the West Ham star to Villa Park before the start of the season and allow Gerrard to have what he now needs in his side.
