With a serious chance of promotion this season, Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa are one of the in-form teams in the Championship in recent months. The manager will be relatively happy with the proceedings and will want to add quality to his side, to get them through the business end of the season without too much trouble.
But he will also have to keep players who want to quit at the club, beyond this transfer window but one player, linked with an exit, who wants to stay is Scottish international Robert Snodgrass.
Currently, on loan at the Villa Park from West Ham United, Snodgrass as five goals and seven assists in 21 league starts this season, cementing his place as a first-team star under Steve Bruce. A winger, who is adept at playing on the right flank, he spent just over six months at the London Stadium, where he failed to find the back of the net even once, and was no longer in the plans of the previous manager Slaven Bilic.
It was earlier reported that David Moyes, the new manager at West Ham, is impressed by the winger’s stats in the Championship and was looking to cut short his loan spell at Villa Park this month. However, it is now understood that Snodgrass will not be leaving Villa anytime soon and that he also wants to make this deal a permanent one.
At 30, he will want to play as many games as possible and the English second-tier competition has given him a great chance to do so. To date, he has 126 Championship appearances, with four different English clubs and is effective in that competition.
He has been the most productive player in the final third after Albert Adomah and is the first choice for the Villains on their flank. Even at his age, he is an industrious winger, whose vision, creativity and technique allow him to create chances on a regular basis.
El Mohamady and Birkir Bjarnason are the only backups for the West Ham man at Villa this season and it is important that Bruce keeps him fresh for crunch games, later in the season.
He is one of the most experienced players in the Championship in his role and has played a crucial part in helping his side stay close to the top of the Championship table. West Ham only want him as a backup and staying back at Villa is the best decision for all parties involved.
