If recent reports are to be believed, then Championship side Aston Villa are likely to make a temporary move for West Ham United’s fringe forward Robert Snodgrass. The Scottish international has found it difficult to break into the first team of Slaven Bilic and has mostly struggled since moving from Hull City to the London Stadium last winter.
However, his impact when in the attacking third is undeniable and Aston Villa could do with some of that following a mixed start to their domestic campaign. Steve Bruce has previously worked with the attacking midfielder at Hull City when he helped the manager gain promotion to the Premier League in 2015.
However, Snodgrass has since seen a dip in form recently with hardly any Premier League buyers willing to secure his services. The 29-year-old has failed to settle at the London club not featuring in the Hammers’ Match-Day squads this season at all. He was last seen in competitive action against England in a 2-2 draw during the World Cup qualifier at Hampden. His national place looks intact though as Scotland head coach Gordon Strachan this week named him in the national squad.
Aston Villa have the likes of Josh Onomah, Jack Grealish, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Albert Adomah and Ross McCormack in the attacking midfield and wing, the positions where Snodgrass usually likes to dwell and his arrival at Villa Park would definitely be an upgrade on them.
Villa have attempted to sign the midfielder on previous occasions but a deal could never materialize. And any chance of them landing him could only come in a temporary move given the concerns Steve Bruce has for violating the FFP rules. Villa can, however, make his deal permanent eventually after bringing him on loan this summer.
This is what Steve Bruce had to say on the subject when asked: “Snoddy is somebody I’ve known for a long time – I bought him for Hull – so that’s something we’re looking into and exploring.”
West Ham have made it crystal clear that Snodgrass doesn’t stand in their long-term plans and the player will have to seek regular chances elsewhere. An academy product of Scottish side Livingston FC, the Scotsman made his first big move to Yorkshire club Leeds United in 2008 following a short loan stint with Stirling.
He continued his impressive run with Leeds United before Norwich City landed him in 2012 when they earned a promotion to the Premier League. But the Canaries couldn’t stay up for long and Snodgrass moved to Hull City while Norwich went down two years later. Having played a similar number of games in the Championship as well as Premier League, Snodgrass has found visibly more success in the second tier.
