Aston Villa are eyeing a late move for a Premier League defender as Steven Gerrard aims to revive their season.
What’s the news?
Mike McGrath and John Percy have reported that Villa are interested in West Ham United defender Craig Dawson. Taking to Twitter, the following was revealed:
“Wolves and AVFC among the teams interested in WHUFC centre-back Craig Dawson. It will be whether David Moyes sanctions move.”
The defender cost £5.5m when he moved from West Bromich Albion to Watford three years ago, but with Steven Gerrard desperate to add in another defender before the window slams shut, it may well be higher than that with Football Observatory valuing him around the £8.5m mark.
Dawson could revive Villa’s season
The campaign has just gone from bad to worse for Gerrard, with three Premier League defeats in four games as well as losing Diego Carlos to injury. Thus, the last few days of the window will be intense and nerve-wracking.
With only Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, and Calum Chambers as his three fit centre-backs, the 42-year-old will be making a defender a priority, with Dawson looking for more game time it could be a move that ends up reviving their early season slump.
Last season, Dawson won 21 tackles, with only Mings making more from the Villa defenders. He also produced a whopping 145 clearances and made just one error which lead to an opposition shot. Mings was again the highest Villa defender for clearances with 191, but he made two errors.
The 32-year-old’s aerial success rate was 64.8% and this was only behind Mings with 66.7%, while Konsa (57.4%) and Chambers (53%) lag behind quite considerably.
Despite his age, Dawson is extremely experienced and would have no trouble slotting into the heart of the Villa backline. With their respective stats, a solid duo between him and Mings could well be the answer to Gerrard’s defensive conundrum, one that looks to save their season from getting any worse than it already is.
Roshane Thomas, the West Ham correspondent for the Athletic praised Dawson last season, lauding him as “superb” and with the pressure firmly mounting on the Villa manager, bringing the West Ham defender to Villa Park could prove to be a surprise, but very wise move.
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