Aston Villa leading race to sign ‘unplayable’ attacker after talks held

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Aston Villa continue to monitor developments in the transfer market with the hope of adding to their squad ahead of deadline day.

Unai Emery has spent around £150m on eight new recruits this summer as the Villains prepare to play UEFA Champions League football for the first time in over 40 years.

Their spending spree has shown no signs of slowing down, though, with Chelsea attacker Raheem Sterling linked with a shock move to the club.

And now, talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook has given Aston Villa renewed hope of signing the England international.

Aston Villa leading the race to sign Raheem Sterling

Crook believes the Villans have the best chance of signing Sterling after recently being told by Enzo Maresca that he isn’t a part of his plans at Chelsea.

“At the moment, they [Aston Villa] seem to be the clearest contenders if Raheem Sterling is to stay in the Premier League,” Crook said on talkSPORT.

“We know that he has not been training with the first team after being stripped of his squad number, and I think it was no coincidence that Chelsea put out a tweet last night introducing Pedro Neto as their new number 7.

“I think that was a little bit of a dig at Raheem Sterling and yet another big indication that he does not have a future at the football club.”

Crook also confirmed that initial talks have taken place between Villa and Chelsea, although it hasn’t progressed beyond that.

He continued: “My understanding is that Villa have held exploratory talks with Chelsea, but no direct talks with Sterling as yet.

“I think he has accepted what Maresca told him last Friday – the bombshell news that he wouldn’t be part of his plans.

“Sterling is now ready to leave Stamford Bridge and would ideally want to leave on a permanent transfer as opposed to a loan.”

Do Villa need Sterling?

Having sold Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad and missed out on Joao Felix to Chelsea, Villa are on the lookout for an attacker ahead of the transfer deadline.

Sterling was referred to as ‘unplayable’ by Paul Merson and has played for some of the biggest clubs in England, so his arrival would be a huge boost for Villa as they prepare to embark on their European adventure.

His wages might be a bit of an issue, as Sterling currently earns around £325,000-a-week at Chelsea.

If Villa agree a decent fee with Chelsea and Sterling takes a pay cut to complete the deal, it would represent fantastic business at this stage of the transfer window.

TBR Football revealed exclusively that Sterling would prefer a move to Crystal Palace as it would allow him to stay in London.

However, a lot could change in the coming days as we edge closer to deadline day, making this transfer one to watch.