Aston Villa, along with every major Championship clubs including the newly promoted, Wolves, are vying to sign Sean Clare on a free transfer this summer. The 21-year-old has run out of a contract with Sheffield Wednesday after only 5 appearances last term. Steve Bruce would have been to able to accommodate the highly talented Englishman in his squad while also answering to some of the club’s financial concerns.
The Villans have been hit with a massive financial pileup which is practically driving the club to the very ground it is currently standing on. Owner, Tony Xia has already suspended his chief of operations over the issue of a £5m unpaid tax bill. He is also finding it hard to pay the bills with China restricting his money transfers.
This obviously has allowed the vultures to take aim at Villa Park to pick out their choice of meat. Jack Grealish seems to be attracting a lot of attention from Premier League outfits and is almost as good as gone at this point. His transfer will understandably see the Birmingham based outfit bank north of £30m-£40m, with the competition building up with every passing day.
Steve Bruce managed to sign Alan Hutton to a new deal but otherwise has been ordered to get rid of almost 10 players from the current squad. Now the Claret and Blues have to plan for the upcoming season after tragically missing out on Premier League football last month.
Fulham beat Villa 1-0 in the playoff finals to earn their place in the English top-flight. With the loss of projected revenue from the Premier League, Bruce will have to put together another winning squad with almost half the wage bill he was allocated last season.
Losing Grealish will leave a dent the size of a meteor in the Villa lineup and replacements need to be lined up for grabs. Clare is an able figure who is full of youthful resilience and enthusiasm.
The Nike Academy product signed with Sheffield in 2016 and scored his first goal for the club in February, ironically against Aston Villa themselves. He spent a few short spells out on loan with Bury, Accrington Stanley and Gillingham.
He missed the majority of the action last term due to injury but his talents were laid out in the limited minutes he actually was on the pitch. Clare is best suited to the attacking midfield role but can operate from other deeper positions as well.
Still only 21 and without a contract, Bruce can easily offer him a deal attractive enough to facilitate the move. However, he will have to beat out competition from almost 14 different clubs.
